LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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Samuel to Solomon. 



BY 



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CHARIvBS S. ROBINSON, D. D. 



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AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

150 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK. 



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COPYRIGHT, 1889, 
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 



CONTENTS. 



I. CONSCIENTIOUS ROUTINE FOR CHILDREN -_. 7 

" Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word 
of the Lord yet revealed unto him." i Sam. 3:7. 

XL AWAKENED RESTLESSNESS IN CHILDREN 17 

" And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child." i Sam. 2.8. 

IlL SPIRITUAL SURRENDER FOR CHILDREN 27 

" And it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord ; 
for thy servant heareth." i Sam. 3:9. 

IV. ELPS FAMILY GOVERNMENT 37 

" For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the 
iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, 
and he restrained them not." i Sam. 3:13. 

V. AN OLD TESTAMENT REVIVAL 46 

" Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and 
Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath 
the Lord helped us." i Sam. 7:12. 

VI. "VOX POPULI, VOX DEI" 55 

" And the Lord said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and 
make them a king." i Sam. 8:22. 

VII. PRAYER ANSWERED UNDER PROTEST 66 

"Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest 
solemnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that 
shall reign over them." i Sam. 8:9. 

VIII. SAMUEL'S FAREWELL ADDRESS 76 

" Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart : 
for consider how great things he hath done for you." i Sa.m. 12:24. 

IX. ONE SIN TOO MANY 85 

"And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for 
thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected 
thee from being king over Israel." i Sam. 15:26. 



4 CONTEXTS. 

X. GOD'S ESTIMATE OF HUMAN AVAILABILITY--. 95 
" But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, 

or on the height of his stature ; because I have refused him." 1 Sam. 

16:7. 

XL GOD'S ESTIMATE OF HUMAN CHARACTER 107 

" The Lord seeth not as man seeth ; for man looketh on the out- 
ward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." 1 Sam. 16:7. 

XIL DAVID AND GOLIATH 117 

" And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not 
with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give 
you into our hands." i Sam. 17:47. 

XIII. REAL FRIENDSHIP 128 

" And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we 
have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord be 
between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. 
And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city." 
I Sam. 20:42. 

XIV. FORGIVENESS AS A FORCE 139 

"Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily." 

1 Sam. 24:4. 

XV. THE DEAD MARCH OF SAUL 147 

•' So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all 
his men, that same day together." i Sam. 31:6. 

XVI. GREATNESS BY GENTLENESS 155 

" And David went on, and grew great, and the Lord God of hosts 
was with him." 2 Sam. 5: 10. 

XVII. SEEKING THE ARK OF THE COVENANT- 166 

"And David arose, and went with all the people that were with 
him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God." 

2 Sam. 6:2. 

XVIII. PROSPECT AND RETROSPECT 177 

"Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that thou hast 
brought me hitherto ? And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, 
O Lord God ; but thou hast spoken also of t-Jiy servant's house for a 
great while to come." 2 Sam. 7:18, 19. 



CONTENTS. 5 

XIX. DAVID'S SIN AND NATHAN'S PARABLE iS6 

"And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man." 2 Sam. 12:7. 

XX. DAVID'S PENITENTIAL PSALM 198 

" Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." PsA. 51:7. 

XXI. DAVID'S PSALM OF PARDON 209 

" Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is 
covered." Psa. 32:1. 

XXIL THE REBELLION OF ABSALOM 220 

"And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of 
the men of Israel are after Absalom." 2 Sam. 15: 13. 

XXIII. MOURNING FOR ABSALOM 234 

" And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber 
over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my sou 
Absalom, my son, my son Absalom ! would God I had died for thee, 
O Absalom, my son, my son !" 2 Sam. 18:33. 

XXIV. THE VOICE OF A ROCK 245 

" The Rock of Israel spake to me." 2 Sam. 23:3. 

XXV. THE CORONATION OF A LIFE 255 

" Be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man." i Kings 2:2. 

XXVI. THE FIRST THING TO DO 266 

" In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: 
and God said, Ask what I shall give thee." i Kings s'-5- 

XXVIL THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE 277 

"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold the heaven 
and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee ; how much less this 
house that I have builded ?" i Kings 8: 27, 

XXVIII. THE QUEEN OF SHEBA'S VISIT 289 

" And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon 
concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard 
questions." i Kings 10:1. 

XXIX. SOLOMON'S FALL _ — 300 

"And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not 
fully after the Lord, as did David his father." i Kings 11:6. 



PREFACE. 



Whenever a New Testament truth is found 
incarnated in an Old Testament biography, the 
analysis of each chapter of this will be sure to yield 
instruction. Four histories — Samuel's and Saul's, 
David's and Solomon's — cross the highest lines of 
Israel's splendor as a kingdom. Whoever under- 
stands those men will have attained a knowledge of 
human nature which will prove valuable to him as 
a citizen and a Christian. 

It is easy to call the contents of this volume lec- 
tures; but the fairer thing to say would be that they 
have all done their duty in the pulpit just the same 
as if they had been sermons. I am pleased to detect 
in them repetitions and reiterations now and then; 
for it shows a fearless desire to press the expository 
lessons as they came from the four teachers whose 
lives were so individual and yet in many respects so 
alike. 

More and more am I convinced, as years move 
on, that the true secret of a pastor's influence and 
success is found in the one counsel: "Preach the 
word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, 
rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doc- 
trine." 

CHARLES SEYMOUR ROBINSON. 

57 East Fifty-fourth Street, New York, 
February 25, 1889. 



FROM 

SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 



I. 

CONSCIENTIOUS ROUTINE FOR CHIL- 
DREN. 

" Now Samuel DID not yet know the Lord, neither was the 

WORD OF THE JLORD YET REVEALED UNTO HLM." — 1 Sam. 3 : 7. 

It would be difEcult to find another scene in the 
whole Bible so full of dramatic interest as the ac- 
count of Samuel's early call to the ministry of lead- 
ership in the Israelitish nation and the office of 
priest and prophet in the Old Testament church. 
That night-spectacle grows fairly weird and beauti- 
ful as we attempt to reproduce it in our imagina- 
tion. The lamps of the seven-branched candlestick 
are mentioned here for the last time in history ; the 
whole narrative suggests change ; a new order for 
the people is soon to be brought out of the con- 
fusion. 

Shadows lie heavily within that sacred inclosure; 
the embroidered folds of the Tabernacle curtains are 
thin, so that a summons might easily be heard 
through the partitions ; the steps fall noiselessly 



8 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

Upon the floor. The young child sleeps with the 
unconscious fearlessness of youth, but a mysterious 
Voice awakes him just before daybreak. Unsus- 
picious and unalarmed, he supposes that Eli has 
wanted him for a momentary service of waiting. 
The old man is unaccountably dull, probably in 
his turn judging that his ward has been dreaming, 
and Samuel goes back and drops down into instant 
drowsiness once more. Again comes the sound of 
the Voice, and without a murmur of petulant feel- 
ing that amiable child reports for commonplace 
duty. Thus the night wears away, and the dia- 
logue continues till at last even Eli's curiosity be- 
comes thoughtful; the mature priest consents to be 
taught by his young servitor; out of the mouth of 
this babe is ordained strength ; God's tones are 
recognized, and the soul of Samuel bends in acqui- 
escent humility before Jehovah. 

Here are represented three phases of religious 
experience in children.. A study of this story will 
show parents and teachers much which ought to 
be supremely helpful in their dealings with those 
young persons who come under their care. Our 
present space in speaking we shall have to distrib- 
ute over these phases in turn, taking up one at a 
time as the chapter invites us. We simply enu- 
merate them beforehand for the sake of order: first, 
conscientious routine ; then awakened restlessness ; 
and lastly, spiritual surrender to the full service of 
God. 

There is, first, the period of conscientious routine. 
For a while every child born of Christian parents, 



CONSCIENTIOUS ROUTINE FOR CHILDREN. 9 

and trained as Samuel was, will follow the tradi- 
tions his father and mother have passed on down to 
him in course of education. It is needful now that 
we become familiar with the facts. One of the 
more scholarly of our modern commentators tells 
us that the earlier verses, as rendered in our com- 
mon English Bibles, give no very clear idea of the 
real meaning, as they make Eli's dimness of eyes, 
his being laid down in his place, and his not being 
able to see, all mark the moment of Samuel's being 
laid down to sleep, and leave indefinite the mean- 
ing of the lamp going out in the temple, besides 
grammatically putting the call of Samuel as occur- 
ring before he had laid down to sleep. But common 
sense will keep the English reader straight. Eli's 
eyes were dim by reason of age; he was lying in his 
place at night, the lamp was not yet out for the 
night, and Samuel was lying down. Eli's "place " 
is explained by some of the ancient commentators 
as **in the inner part of the court, near to the tab- 
ernacle;" and Samuel is supposed (after the East- 
ern fashion) to be asleep quite near, perhaps just 
outside the door, ready to answer Eli's call at any 
time, and be eyes to the blind man. Hence it will 
be better for us to read over the narrative as we 
find it in the new Revision. Some few changes in 
the phraseology will have to be noticed in pass- 
ing: 

"And the child Samuel ministered unto the 
Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was 
precious in those days; there was no open vision. 
And it came to pass at that time, when EH was laid 



lO FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

down ill Ills place (now his eyes had begun to wax 
dim, that he could not see), and the lamp of God 
was not yet gone out, and Samuel was laid down to 
sleep, in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of 
God was, that the Lord called Samuel: and he said, 
Here am I. And he ran unto Eli and said, Here 
am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called 
not; lie down again. And he went and lay down. 
And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Sam- 
uel arose and went to Eli, and said. Here am I; for 
thou calledst me. And he answered, I called not, 
my son; lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet 
know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord 
yet revealed unto him." 

Here, then, is disclosed to us the exact historic 
point in the experience of this young lad indicated 
by the term we have employed. He was living 
along quietly, engaged in the services of a con- 
scientious routine with Eli. 

A very pathetic picture is presented of the little 
fellow in one of the previous chapters of this book: 
*'But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a 
child, girded with a linen ephod. Moreover, his 
mother made him a little coat, and brought it to 
him from year to year, when she came up with her 
husband to offer the yearly sacrifice." 

This young lad's mother brought him each year 
new clothing, such as he would need for all ordi- 
nary wear ; but Eli seems to have put him into 
priest's dress at once, although he was not a priest 
at all. He wore an ''ephod," so the story says. 
That means a decent linen garment of two parts, 



CONSCIENTIOUS ROUTINE FOR CHILDREN. II 

front and back, and joined at the shoulders, a sort 
of double apron of white cloth. And our minds are 
arrested by the sight of this quiet and industrious 
boy doing his tasks there among the folds of the 
Tabernacle. 

But now it is just as well to settle at once that 
it was not the showiness of Samuel's position, nor 
the shining of his cleanly robe, nor even the place 
where his mother put him, which gave him favor 
in the sight of God; for the sons of Bli had all this 
in similar kind, but they behaved awfully and were 
punished in a way afterwards that made the nation's 
ears tingle. It was Samuel's fidelity to duty, and 
his reverence for God's house and God's people, his 
care, his watchfulness, and his serious, sedate de- 
meanor while about it, that made his w^ork every 
day acceptable to EH and to Jehovah, the great and 
holy God whom he ministered unto. 

Then, too, we ought to remember that the word 
"minister" means only "a servant." It is not a 
name of office, but of work. It should never render 
any man proud, but always keep him humble. 

Does any one ask what it w^as which Samuel 
found to do in the Tabernacle ? ■ We do not know 
exactly: but we can guess somewhere in the region 
of the truth. I think we might quote the words of 
the very wise and quaint commentator, Matthew 
Henry, on this head: 

"He did well, indeed, for he ministered to the 
Lord according as his capacity was. He learned 
his catechism, and was doubtless constant to his de- 
votions, soon learned to read, and took his pleasure 



13 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

ill the law of God. He ministered before Eli: that 
is, he served under his inspection and as he ordered 
him; but not before Eli's sons, for all parties were 
agreed that they were unfit to be his tutors. Per- 
haps he attended immediately on Eli's person, was 
ready to him to fetch and bring as he had occasion ; 
and that is in the verse called 'ministering to the 
Ivord.' Some little services perhaps he was em- 
ployed in about the altar, though much under the 
age appointed by the law for the Levites' ministra- 
tion. He could light a candle or hold a dish, or 
run on an errand or shut an open door ; and be- 
cause he did this with a pious disposition or tem- 
per of mind, it is called 'ministering to the Lord,* 
and great notice is taken of it. After a while he 
did his work so well that Eli appointed that he 
should minister as the priests did, because he 
saw that God was accepting the boy and was with 
him." 

What is it possible for any child now to do, as a 
follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, under the family 
rule ? The very quietness of such a question shows 
how unnecessary it will be to try to give it an ex- 
haustive answer. Young people can be taught to 
pray, to take the care of some practical schemes of 
usefulness, to study the Word of God diligently, to 
contribute money to religious causes, to become 
interested in the poor, to speak words of counsel 
and encourao^ement and warnino^ to such as need 
direction or assistance. The grand old moralities 
are always within their reach: fidelities at school, 
courtesies to the aged, consideration for the weak, 



CONSCIENTIOUS ROUTINE FOR CHILDREN. 1 3 

keeping the Sabbath, aiding in household cares, 
and full obedience to all God's commands. 

How far is this truly religious? That is a sin- 
gularly profound question; it cannot always be an- 
swered. Children differ extremely. Some of them 
become spiritual Christians quite early; some never 
know the date of any experience that might be con- 
sidered a regeneration; some are alert, imaginative, 
poetic, sensitive; others are slow, heavy, and run 
to rigid moralities with supreme delight and con- 
scientious satisfaction. It is always right to do 
right, and God loves a virtuous, correct life. Of 
this we can be comfortably certain. 

As to the spiritual condition of Samuel at this 
period of his career, there is found one verse in the 
record which has given some trouble: "Now Sam- 
uel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the 
word of the Lord yet revealed unto him." Even 
our venerable translators tried twice upon it; for 
the margin says: "Thus did Samuel before he 
knew the Lord, and before the word of the Lord 
was revealed unto him." Evidently there passed 
a vivid and permanent change over this boy's heart 
and history in that night's experience: God called 
him. The scene is solemn and impressive as we 
watch that unsuspicious lad going backwards and 
forwards, trying to find out whose was the voice he 
heard and to learn what it wished him to do. Twice 
he heard, and made the mistake of supposing that 
Eli, his natural monitor, w^as the one who wanted 
him for some real purpose. But Eli was as blind 
as the boy in his unconscious ignorance, and seems 



14 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

to have supposed Samuel was awakened by a 
dream. 

Here then we may as well arrest our present ex- 
position. In this first phase of childish experience 
we see that Samuel was moral and dutiful, obedient, 
and to a certain extent religiously inclined. God 
was dealing with him, but neither the lad nor his 
counsellor knew it. 

A single question arises now which may profit- 
ably claim a notice. Is there in modern times any- 
thing that answers to this description of a child's 
religion ? Much, indeed : and yet I choose to an- 
swer the inquiry with only one illustration. It may 
be of the best interest for me to relate here, almost 
in the words of his autobiography, the fascinating 
story of Goethe, the great German poet and philoso- 
pher, as he penned it in his mature years for the 
world to read. 

The young Wolfgang had gone no farther, at 
this period of his precocious boyhood, so he says, 
than to keep his convictions along on the plane of 
the article of simple belief in an overruling Power. 
He tells us he cherished an unbroken confidence 
that the God who stands in immediate connection 
with nature, and owns it and loves it as his work, 
seemed to him in those days the proper Supreme 
Being, who might be brought into closer relation- 
ship with man, as with everything else, and who 
would take care of him, as of the motion of the 
stars, the days and seasons, the animals and plants. 
There were texts of the Gospels which explicitly 
stated this. The lad could ascribe no form to this 



CONSCIENTIOUS ROUTINE FOR CHILDREN. 1 5 

Being; he therefore sought him in his works, and 
would, in the good Old Testament fashion, build 
him an altar. Nature's productions were set forth 
as images of the world, over which a flame was to 
burn, signifying the aspirations of man's heart to- 
wards his Maker. He therefore brought out of the 
collection of natural objects which he possessed, 
and which had been increased as chance directed, 
the best ores and other specimens of earths and 
rocks. 

But the prime difficulty was as to how they 
should be arranged and raised into a pile. His 
father possessed a beautiful red-lacquered music- 
stand, ornamented wnth gilt flowers, in the form of 
a four-sided pyramid with different elevations, which 
had been found convenient for a quartet, but lately 
was not much in use. He laid hands on this, and 
built up his representatives of nature one above the 
other in steps, so that it all looked quite pretty and 
at the same time sufficiently significant. 

On an early sunrise his first worship of God was 
to be celebrated; but the young priest had not yet 
settled how to produce a flame which should at the 
same time emit an agreeable odor. At last it oc- 
curred to him to combine the two, as he possessed 
a few fumigating pastiles which diffused a pleasant 
fragrance with a glimmer, if not with a flame. 
Nay, this soft burning and exhalation seemed a 
better representation of what passes in the heart 
than an open flame. The sun had already risen, 
but the neighboring houses concealed the east. 
At last it glittered above the roofs; a burning-glass 



l6 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

was at once taken up and applied to the pastiles, 
which were fixed on the summit of the pile in a 
fine porcelain saucer. Everything succeeded ac- 
cording to the wish, and the service was com- 
plete. 

The altar remained as a peculiar ornament of 
the room which had been assigned to him in the 
new house. Every one regarded it only as a well- 
arrangfed collection of natural curiosities. The lad 
knew better, but concealed his knowledge. He 
longed for a repetition of the solemnity. But un- 
fortunately, just as the most opportune sun arose, 
the porcelain saucer was not at hand; he placed the 
pastiles directly on the upper surface of the stand; 
they were kindled, and so great was the devotion 
of the young priest that he did not observe, until 
it was too late, the mischief his sacrifice was doing. 
The pastiles had burned mercilessly into the red 
lacquer and beautiful gold flowers, and, as if some 
evil spirit had disappeared, had left their black, in- 
effaceable mark. 

Thus ended Goethe's juvenile experiment in 
natural religion. The mischief could be covered 
up with the largest pieces of his show-materials; 
but the spirit for any new offerings was gone. 

''The accident might almost be considered a 
hint and a warning," so remarks this singular man 
in a closing comment upon his own story, " in wish- 
ing to approach the Deity in such a way." 



AWAKEiNED RESTLESSNESS IN CHILDREN. 1 7 



II. 



AWAKENED RESTLESSNESS IN CHIL- 

DREN. 

"And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child." 

I Sam. 3 : 8. 

It is possible that such a case as that of the poet 
Goethe, which has already been noticed, may be 
considered as unusual and extreme. And sure we 
are that the young Wolfgang was a singularly imag- 
inative child, and in the end the development of his 
infant piety was never of the most exemplary sort. 

Really, a much better illustration for our present 
use could be found almost anywhere among our own 
Christian households. I should like to be permit- 
ted to perpetuate here one incident that occurred 
under my own observation in a parish of which I 
was for a while the pastor; and this for the sake of 
recalling the pathetic memory of one of my little 
friends. A young lad, four or five years old, used 
to hold a religious service regularly upon the Sab- 
bath in his father's parlor. He was accustomed to 
summon the other children, and conduct the ordi- 
nary exercises of public worship after his own fash- 
ion. He would give out the hymn and all would 
sing it with their quaint music. They would re- 
peat the Lord's Prayer in unison. Then an older 
member of the audience would read the brief lesson 
from the Word, and at the proper moment thisju- 

From Samuel to Soiomon. 



l8 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

venile evangelist would mount an ottoman for his 
pulpit and deliver his sermon with a reverent so- 
lemnity which older preachers might well emulate. 
Of course, a contribution invariably was taken at 
the close of the meeting. 

Was there any good in this ? It would be diffi- 
jcult to pronounce upon the undertaking. We can- 
not say what these home-promptings of religiously- 
directed feeling amount to anyway. One touching 
recollection comes to my mind now. There was 
brought to me, after a lengthened series of assem- 
blies one winter, the sum of fifty-three cents for a 
grand result in money; and this was added (receipt 
being given with my own hand) to our church sub- 
scription of many thousands of dollars to erect a 
building for the Mission School. 

That boy is now beyond childish years in 
strength and zeal; the sweet girl, who sang her part 
and passed the plate, has gone away into a higher 
service in heaven; the home continues yet, as it al- 
ways was, a centre of life and love in the gospel; 
and this small record is dismissed to its end as an 
instance of conscientious routine, with a pastor's 
proud gladness as he thinks affectionately of the 
group which he remembers through the years. 

But we move forward in our patient exposition. 
The matter for consideration on the present occasion 
is the second in order of the three phases of child- 
life: namely, the awakened restlessness of children 
under the repeated call of God. "And the Lord 
called Samuel again the third time. And he arose 
and went to Eli, and said. Here am I; for thou call- 



AWAKENED RESTLESSNESS IN CHILDREN. 19 

edst me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had 
called the child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, 
Go, lie down; and it shall be, if he call thee, that 
thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant 
heareth. ' ' 

The young lad lay down quietly as he was bid- 
den. If he slept, his heart still kept awake; for he 
was waitinof to hear what the God who called him 
twice before had now to speak in the ear of his soul. 
When God calls a child twice, it may be expected 
that he will soon call him a third time. The Lord 
often speaks to a child directly, when his parent, 
his teacher, or his pastor is dull of apprehension. 
Eli was not ready to admit that, in all likelihood. 
Many a man of God since that day has told a youth- 
ful inquirer to go and lie down again, because he 
himself was not familiar enough with the divine 
voice to recognize it when it came. But there must 
be discrimination even in our surprise over EH as 
well as in our censure. For God often is exceed- 
ingly direct, and of necessity individual or actually 
exclusive, in talking with children. Samuel could 
hear what the Lord said to Samuel better than Eli 
could hear what the Lord said to Samuel. iVt any 
rate, God did in this one instance make his voice 
heard by a child when an older and wiser person 
heard nothing at all. 

But at last the call was recognized. When the 
third summons came, even this old man perceived 
that God was speaking to his ward among the shad- 
ows of the Tabernacle in the night. It is much to 
Eli's credit that he found out his own mistake and 



20 FROM SAMUEI. TO SOI.OMON. 

swiftly corrected it. His example ought to serve as 
a caution to other religious teachers to beware of 
bidding any child to lie down when the almighty 
God is arousing his conscience with a celestial call. 

All this is legitimate instruction, and it comes 
easily from the Old Testament story. But we shall 
be wiser to press at once into our household ex- 
perience. 

There is a period in the history of almost every 
one who, reared in a Christian land, has been more 
or less directly under the pressure of the truth, in 
which he really faces the great question of his rela- 
tion to God. And the effort is often an earnest one 
and is directed towards a positive decision concern- 
ing a religious life. 

This period you may recognize in yourself, or 
detect in others, almost always by certain unmista- 
kable signs. There will be outward manifestations 
of solicitude which will show how seriously the 
soul contemplates its own experience. Skill, how- 
ever, and especially patience, will be needed to 
imderstand these revelations of inward struo^gfle. 
They often partake of the nature of strategy, and 
press their advance in the line of a precise contra- 
diction. Then they will have to be read, like He- 
brew syllables, from right to left. 

For example, you see a young man inquisitive 
and impetuous, ready to speak about his religious 
feelings, but eminently heterodox in every expres- 
sion he makes. Old creeds are too narrow for him, 
and old forms of thought are discarded with an ap- 
pearance of malevolence or spite. He dares to 



AWAKENED RESTLESSNESS IN CHILDREN. 21 

doubt what all education has been trying to im- 
press upon his heart as absolutely sacred. He is in 
a mood of mind alarming to most of those who con- 
verse with him. Authority is lightly esteemed. 
Dogmatic utterances of doctrine are irreverently re- 
jected. He now ventures to cherish views of his 
own. Put on his manhood to defend them, he takes 
an evidently malicious delight in observing how 
shocked are the minds of those who listen to his 
bold and mischievous speculations. Opinionated 
and headstrong, he seems to be moved with a rest- 
less spirit of contradiction or dissent, and grows 
more and more defiant. 

You see a young woman, less demonstrative 
somewhat, because less argumentative, but very 
much in the same temper, or distemper, of mind. 
She is impatient of all attempt at control, and im- 
periously self-willed under any form of expostula- 
tion. She affects gayeties she does not enjoy, and 
clamors for pleasures for w^hich in reality she has 
no taste. With a high profession of contempt for 
the opinions of those whom she understands now to 
be painfully on the watch for her, she seems to 
court the half-mournful, half-indignant censures 
bestowed justly on her caprice and perversity. 
Proud and wilful, she will not hear one word of 
remonstrance she can by any ingenuity avoid. She 
will curl her lip against any appeal, replying to it 
in a strain of wildest remark, and casting oftentimes 
most unreasonable sneers at everything she would 
be supposed traditionally to hallow. And the 
more pointed her wit and the more hateful the sar- 



22 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

casm, the more satisfied in her wicked spirit she 
appears to be. The spectacle seems pitiful, and 
would in the outset seem hopeless if it were not 
that these persons, as we daily associate with them, 
appear conscientious, and certainly do remain moral 
in behavior and in spirit measurably djsvout. 

Such demonstrations are often seriously alarm- 
ing to an affectionate circle around who are watch- 
ing for better things. During the winter that I had 
charge of the Bible-class last we enjoyed what we 
considered a season of special outpouring of the 
Spirit of God. It was at that time I found a letter 
upon the question-wire which perhaps it is better 
that I should reproduce here. 

" I am constrained to seek your advice and help 
under a sense of embarrassment and actual fear. 
You know my children, my son and my daughter. 
It has grieved me for years to see them growing up 
so unconcerned for themselves. They are now just 
entering society; and my heart is exceedingly anx- 
ious to have them truly converted. There can be 
no safety for them unless they are experimentally 
grounded by saving faith upon the Lord Jesus 
Christ before they are exposed to the world. Es- 
pecially at this time, when others are going into the 
kingdom, I have been looking for their immediate 
change. 

" But to my surprise, they both seem farther off 
than ever. They grow ribald about the meetings. 
My daughter is actually spiteful at times, and says 
the wildest sorts of things. And her brother en- 
courages her, though he admits that she is acting 



AWAKENED RESTLESSNESS IN CHILDREN. 23 

strangely. I think they confirm and countenance 
each other in their rebelliousness and sin. They 
reject exhortations. They go to church, but come 
home declaring they do not believe what you say 
from the pulpit. Every day they are becoming 
more and more violent. They introduce the sub- 
ject of religion themselves in my presence, for no 
other reason (as I conjecture) than to break out 
with some ridicule or reproach. 

"I confess I am frightened. I do not know 
what to do in such straits. Counsel me and pray 
for me. It seems to me I cannot bear that these 
children of the covenant should become skeptics." 

Thus the sad epistle concludes with the name. 
There can be no doubt concerning this as a living 
experience; it could be paralleled over and over 
ag:ain even now. The first thino^ needed in treatingf 
it, or even in treating of it, is to gain, if possible, a 
true and sufiicient explanation of the exhibition 
which is made. What is it that causes these alarm- 
ing demonstrations which startle friends and stran- 
gers so ? 

It is very easy for parents and Christian friends 
to be mistaken here in all such cases. This point 
once reached by any young man, his history be- 
comes involved and measurably intricate. And 
sooner or later it is reached. Every individual of 
us, in these communities lit with truth, comes one 
day to see that his path to heaven is unlike that of 
any other person, and henceforth he must journey 
on alone. That thought is revolutionary. Every 
intrusion of another's experience upon his seems 



24 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

like a new offer of marriage to a bride pressed upon 
her wedding morning. The soul gets offended by 
an irr^ '^r^inent profession of interest while it is 
preparing to put on the white garments of its espou- 
sal to Christ. But the thing to be remembered is 
this: "And Eli perceived that the Lord had called 
the child." Men and women may forget this, and 
grow as sorrowfully "amazed " as was Mary when 
she rebuked Jesus for not paying more attention to 
her feelings. They ought to recollect those calm 
words: "Wist ye not that I must be about my 
Father's business?" 

For really this is the explanation of the perverse 
disclosure thus made. Instead of becoming unbe- 
lievers, many of these persons are more nearly be- 
lievers than ever before. They are at any rate 
roused out of the dead rut of indifference. And in 
so far their posture of mind is hopeful. Remember 
that it is not the delirious words of one in a fever, 
horrible as they may sound on our startled ears, 
that are his peril; cure the fever and the tongue will 
do its duty better. There is in this experience much 
that is worthy of truest sympathy. And so far from 
bitter or hasty rebuke being just the thing to meet it, 
nothing could be more ill-advised and dangerous. 

The value of the crisis is what should render it 
so inexpressibly welcome. Oh, is it true that God 
is now calling my child ? Did Hannah dream that 
night what was going on up at the Tabernacle? 
Would that she as well as Eli had been on the 
bended knees of their souls before the covenant- 
keeping God! Who can regret that the hour has 



AWAKENED RESTLESSNESS IN CHILDREN. 25 

arrived when the soul of his child must deal unhin- 
dered and solitary with the Spirit of grace? Better 
for us then to wrestle the more mightily in prayer, 
and leave the conflict to go on under the leadings of 
Omnipotent Grace, till the turbidness grows clear. 

Let us understand that men and women are often 
in the throes of deepest conviction of sin when they 
seem most careless or even most belligerent. A 
secret misgiving is in their minds. A frightened 
sense of insecurity causes them to put on a face of 
bold bravado. The truth is, however, they are en- 
tering the long wrestle with the unknown Angel of 
the Covenant. When they gain the victory, as by 
the grace and mercy of God they frequently do, they 
will discover that thev have not been contendinof 
with old creeds they have disputed nor with the 
formulas of instruction they have spurned, but with 
the Almighty himself, who in the moment of their 
first persistency has revealed to them that the fight 
was to be one of life and death. 

Every man who is truly a man is conscious of 
a year and a day when the burden of his great 
secret of life came upon him. First dawned the 
perception of a purpose in his creation, then came 
his relationship of subjection to God, the lower to the 
higher, the sinful to the Sinless. No matter how it 
came. 

It is the Spirit of grace, directly, that brings this 
thought to some while they rest in the careless en- 
joyments of closing childhood. It comes out of the 
dark like the voice to young Samuel in the temple. 
Oh, how sober is the meditation that falls into the 



26 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

heart when under the monitions of the family altar 
or the pulpit we earliest learn these vague, half-un- 
derstood vearnino^s of our souls to have been echoes 
waked by the gracious whisper of Jehovah! Then 
it is that the inexperienced child needs sympathy 
and help from the guidance that is nearest it. Un- 
tried before, startled now, it looks up at the name- 
less and indescribable endeavors of earthly existence. 

It matters little where this impression took its 
origin. The occasions vary, as personal histories 
vary; and few men have exactly the same story to 
tell. But such hours there are, and very precious 
they ought to be. They mould the soul for the fu- 
ture, fill it with yearning, kindle it with worthy im- 
pulse, and gird it with might. Let no one despise 
liis religious convictions. Let no one neglect the 
times when God's Spirit seems speaking to him. 
These are the critical points of our being. They 
shape our whole after-career. They give the color 
to all our final destiny. 

Now there are two things for all of us to re- 
member in such a crisis. One of them is this: the 
issues in every case are delicate beyond conception. 
We are therefore in dancrer of doino- too much or too 
little. 

The other is this: if we do not help, we hinder. 
Eli had to say something at least when Samuel 
came to him. Tell the child God is calling him; 
tell him to answer: "Speak, Lord; for thy servant 
heareth." Eli told Samuel the wrong thing twice; 
the right, once. 



SPIRITUAL SURRENDER FOR CHILDREN. 2; 

III. 

SPIRITUAL SURRENDER FOR CHILDREN. 

"And it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, 
Speak, Lord ; for thy servant heareth." — i Sam. 3 : 9. 

The continued exposition of this passage has 
led us along till we have reached the third phase of 
child-life, the period of spiritual surrender: "There- 
fore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down; and it 
shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say. Speak, 
Lord ; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went 
and lay down in his place. And the Lord came, 
and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, 
Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy 
servant heareth." The force of the whole narra- 
tive centres in the one reply Eli told Samuel to 
make, and which the docile lad repeated: "Speak, 
Lord; for thy servant heareth." To this we devote 
our attention, for every word in the sentence con- 
tains a lesson for use. 

I. To begin with, there is indicated here, as a 
part of this boy's experience, the exercise of unques- 
tioning obedience. If Samuel had been an unamiable 
child, he would have been fretted by these frequent 
interruptions in his sleep. But now we see how 
patiently he goes back to his couch. 

God always loves to talk with good children; 
and an obedient and teachable disposition is the 
very best kind of preparation for the converse. It 



28 FROM SAMUEL TO SOI.OMON. 

is wise for any one to keep steady in attendance 
upon the house of God, even when no wonderful 
*' vision" is to be expected; sometimes one receives 
a message which is far more valuable than any 
spectacle. A child who does not know God's name 
may easily learn to know God's voice; and it com- 
forts and helps us all, young or old, more to hear 
messaores from heaven with our hearts than with 
our ears only. 

If anybody asks just here whether this same 
Jehovah who spoke to Samuel ever speaks to human 
beings now, I should have to quote an Old Testa- 
ment passage and then compare the words of it 
with those of a passage in the New, in order that 
my reply might be plain and clear. "Wisdom 
crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets. 
Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and 
shall be quiet from fear of evil." 

When I was in the East some years ago, I vis- 
ited one of the noblest edifices in Constantinople, 
called the Mosque of Santa Sophia. It used to be 
a Christian church ; but as the Saracens came into 
possession of the city they converted this fine build- 
ing into a place for the ordinary Mohammedan ser- 
vice. Still it was sufiered to retain its old name. 
*' Sophia" is a Greek word, meaning wisdom: 
"Santa Sophia" means holy wisdom. And this 
edifice was consecrated by a Christian emperor, 
Constantine, for the worship of our Saviour Jesus 
Christ, under an Old Testament name. You know 
wx were talking, two years ago, about "the Logos," 
as we found it in the first chapter of John. Now, 



SPIRITUAL SURRENDER FOR CHILDREN. 29 

what Logos signifies in the masculine gender, Sophia 
signifies in the feminine — God coming down from 
heaven to men so as"to talk to them. 

When Solomon, in the book of Proverbs, pictures 
"Wisdom" as speaking to us, "crying without in 
the streets," we have no reason to be surprised to 
find in the New Testament, in two places, that very- 
word applied to God's only-begotten Son by Jesus 
himself. 

He says once (Luke 7:35), "But Wisdom is 
justified of all her children," and he tells us again 
(Luke 11: 49), " Therefore also said the Wisdom of 
God." In both of these verses the plain reference 
is to Jesus Christ. So that I think we shall be very 
safe in asserting that whatever the Old Testament 
declares "Wisdom" says, the New Testament would 
have us understand Jesus himself says. 

It seems to me we have something very wonder- 
ful in these verses for real use and help. God might 
have left us a most weary work to do, looking up 
Wisdom, and trying to find out what she wanted to 
say. But here we learn that all we need has started 
out for us. Wisdom is actually close at our doors. 
It is as if a beautiful angel from heaven had just 
arrived, bringing a direct message from God. It is 
as if she were standing out in the highway now, 
trying to get somebody to listen to her words. And 
these words are exactly what some of you have been 
wanting for a long time to hear. She seeks to lead 
you to come to a new life. She calls you to begin 
to serve your Maker with your whole heart. That 
is what many of you have declared you wished to 



30 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

do. And the chance, I should suppose, is now very 
opportune and very welcome. 

Hunters tells us that they sometimes search for 
water in an autumn forest by carrying a hazel- 
branch over the spot where the spring is conjectured 
to be concealed. They soberly assert that, no mat- 
ter how deep underground the cool fountain may 
be flowing, the instinct of life in the twig will en- 
able it to detect the desired current beneath the 
fallen leaves. Suddenly it will droop in the hand, 
bendino; straio:ht towards the moisture. Then, if 
he digs, he will discover the stream. You see, the 
green hazel has need of the water; it must have it, 
or it must shrivel and die. 

Such a text as ours to-day makes me think of 
that superstition of these woodsmen. What a soul 
wants really it is very apt to go after by some subtle 
instinct of its own, which in certain cases it can 
hardly understand for itself. I take in my imagina- 
tion, now, this announcement about Wisdom some- 
what as men take the hazel-twig, and I pass it 
around among you. I say, the Lord Jesus has come 
from heaven for you— Wisdom is standing out in the 
street— Christ is calling to you to hear him! And 
so it seems certain to me that before long I shall 
notice that one or another conscience, or one heart, 
or one mind, here or there, is going to stir up the 
hidden currents of its life to recognize an invitation 
so welcome, to come and talk with God close at 
hand. 

2. But now we move forward a step. In the 
experience of Samuel we observe, in the second 



SPIRITUAL SURRENDER FOR CHILDREN. 31 

place, there was the attitude of listening. He lay- 
down again, as lie was bidden, but with a far dif- 
ferent feeling. He was quite awake ; he was ex- 
pectant, and on the alert to hear. 

My fear is that the young people whom I am 
addressing will not understand just how the call of 
God comes and just what his heavenly wisdom 
wants. Of course, Jesus Christ is not now here in 
bodily form. But he comes and he speaks none the 
less openly for all that. I think I can make you 
admit that he has come to you a great many times 
already. 

One way in which he shows himself is by his 
Word. This Bible of ou,rs is nothing more nor less 
than a series of letters to us from God. Often does 
a text, which we have read a hundred or more 
times without being impressed by it, suddenly ap- 
pear to surprise us with a great meaning. It reaches 
our consciences and arouses our minds. It will 
always do so if we study it well. 

So, again. Wisdom comes by God's people. That 
is, Christians are messengers to us from Christ. 
They say, as Martha said: ''The Master is come 
and calleth for thee." Preachers in the pulpit, 
teachers in the classes, parents at their homes, 
zealous friends who speak to us by the way — all 
these are sent for our good. They were charged to 
do that long and long ago: " Let him that heareth 
say. Come." We must treat thein as if they had 
God's message, not their own; for, indeed, it is not 
their own. 

Then, also, Wisdom comes by the Holy Spirit. 



33 FROM SAMUKL TO SOI.OMON. 

Sometimes we find ourselves led into serious 
thought, we hardly know how. In an hour of 
quiet meditation we feel compelled to consider 
those greatest of all questions that concern the 
future well-being of our souls. We cannot tell 
what is coming by-and-by. Events appear like 
huge dark ships out in the offing ; we scan them 
with a half-curious, half-anxious eye, for we can- 
not know what they have on board in store for any 
one. If life grows real it makes one uneasy. And 
now and then this feeling stretches far beyond and 
over the life we are at present living. I am sure I 
could reach your own experience if I were to press 
the question closely; do you never have a deep and 
undefinable consciousness of something yet to be 
accomplished, something yet to be attained, before 
3^ou can feel quietly at rest ? These inward moni- 
tions of conscience, these solemn reflections that 
will not allow themselves ever to be hushed, these 
imaginations of the soul looking forward, these 
yearnings of your nature for peace and rest and 
hope, these aspirations of your unsatisfied minds 
after what is more substantial and secure, these im- 
patient impulses of reform when all alone it seems 
to come to you that you ought to be better, these 
cravinors after the crood and the manlv and the 
pure and the true — these are just the dealing of 
Almighty God with every one he is determining to 
help and save; these are the patient strivings of 
the Holy Ghost within your soul. They are the 
cry of Wisdom to you, the voice of Jesus Christ. 
3. Then next in the experience of Samuel we 



SPIRITUAI. SURRENDER FOR CHILDREN. 7^;^ 

observe there is a spirit of reverejtce. In the wonder- 
ful name "Lord," which Eli uses, but the boy 
drops, we know resided the recognition of the eter- 
nal Jehovah in person. The young heart seems to 
shrink back from the utterance of a word which 
would assume familiarity. An awful solemnity 
holds back his speech. 

Canon Liddon said long ago in one of his thought- 
ful essays: " Religion consists fundamentally in the 
practical recognition of a constraining bond between 
the inward life of man and an unseen Person." We 
all recognize the truth of this statement. But are 
we ready to assert that children have any such 
notion ? Do the young entertain any solemn and 
intelligent sense of the Supreme Being they are 
taught to reverence as God ? 

To this the answer is not difficult. An appeal 
to the memory and conscience of almost all mature 
people, who have been brought up under circum- 
stances of training similar to those of Samuel, would 
receive a series of most interesting responses. These 
would vary as temperaments and personal char- 
acteristics vary; but it is a fact that children con- 
struct systems of faith even in their earliest years.. 
They feel the stirrings of an awakened conscience, 
and they find themselves oppressed with the neces- 
sity of being at peace with the Being who created 
them. De Quincey, in some references he was 
making to the memories of his boyhood, says: "I 
felt resting upon me always too deep and gloomy 
a sense of obscure duties attached to life that I never 
should be able to fulfil; a burden which I could not 

From Samuel to Solmon. o •' 



34 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

carry, and yet which I did not know how to throw 
off." It is likely that very many mature persons 
can look back across the lapse of time and respond 
to this feeling and instance a similar experience. 

When Samuel reached that name of "Jehovah,'* 
a certain awe-struck devotion must have seized his 
mind and shaken his voice as it broke the silence 
of the shadows lying in the folds of the Tabernacle 
curtains and he felt himself talking in the mid- 
night all alone with Jehovah. Such moments are 
not rare with some who are older than Samuel. 
They do not hear a voice in the air, but they have 
the awe and the outcry in the recesses of their 
hearts. 

4. But now let us move forward a new step. To 
the attitude of listening and the feeling of rever- 
ence add another particular, suggested in a word 
also. There is the apprehension of obligation. Sam- 
uel from this time forward till his death becomes 
the servant of the Highest. "Speak, Lord; thy 
servant heareth." 

Certainly we now stand on sure ground. To 
every child there belongs an instinct of dutiful sub- 
ordination to God. Even in untrained and unin- 
structed minds there is the voice of conscience call- 
ing for an answer. But when the New Testament 
speaks, and the Son of God comes into recognition, 
the soul feels the presence of its Master at once. 
This is the mysterious power of the gospel reveal- 
ing an incarnation of the Godhead. 

There is much force in the exclamation of the 
ancient father, Irenaeus: "Christ made himself an 



SPIRITUAL SURRENDER FOR CHILDREN. 35 

infant to infants that he might sanctify them ; he 
made himself a child to children, giving holiness to 
those of that age, to the end he might afford them 
in his person an example of piety, sanctity, and sub- 
jection; he made himself a young man to young 
men, giving them a pattern and sanctifying them 
for the service of our Lord.'* 

So whenever Christ comes by his Spirit into 
contact with a young life there is the bending of 
the will into desire for service. Bli startled no pre- 
judice and awaked no opposition in the son of the 
Lord's handmaid Hannah. This lad could have 
said at once, like the unknown author of the hun- 
dred and sixteenth psalm: " O Lord, truly I am thy 
servant; I am thy servant and the son of thy hand- 
maid: thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to 
thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call 
upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows 
unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people, 
in the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of 
thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord." 

5. Thus we reach the final step in the greeting 
of Samuel to his Master and Maker: " Speak, Lord; 
thy servant heareth." There is the temper of sub- 
mission. The entire surrender of the soul is reached 
in th'at word ''heareth." 

The scene, as it now rises upon our imagination, 
is singularly pathetic. This young child was offer- 
ing himself most unconsciously to a duty immediate 
and pressing, but indescribably hard. And the 
worst of it was that the long life of public service 
was lying out darkly before him. From this time 



36 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

forward there was to be no rest, no release, for the 
boy, no retreat for the man. A little boy sat in 
front of his father and held the reins which con- 
trolled a restive horse. Unknown to the boy, the 
reins passed around him and w^ere also in his father's 
hands. He saw occasion to pull them. With art- 
less simplicity the child looked around, saying, 
*' Father, I thought I was driving, but I am not, 
am I?" Thus it is often with men, who think that 
they are shaping a destiny which a higher hand 
than theirs is really fashioning. They do their 
own will, but they also do the will of God. A 
stronger hand guides them, a mightier power holds 
the helm of their vessel and saves from rock and 
wreck. Happy are they who quietly yield to the 
guidance of an almighty hand. 

Observe carefully the language employed here 
at the close of the narrative. When the Lord called 
this fearless boy the fourth time, He "came and 
stood." So the two faced each other while this 
small ambassador took the message which was to 
make Eli's ears tingle. He was directly in the 
majestic presence of Jehovah for the first time. We 
retreat from the spectacle, ourselves abashed and 
dazzled, whispering to our hearts the words of Jean 
Paul Richter: "Surely, the smallest are nearest 
God, as the smallest planets are nearest the sun!" 



ELl'S FAMILY GOVERNMENT. ^iJ 



IV. 



ELI'S FAMILY GOVERNMENT. 

" For I HAVE TOLD HIM THAT I WILL JUDGE HIS HOUSE FOR EVER. 
FOR THE INIQUITY WHICH HE KNOWETH* BECAUSE HIS SONS 
MADE THEMSELVES VILE, AND HE RESTRAINED THEM NOT.— 

I Sam. 3 : 13. 

One of the greatest skeptics France has ever 
produced was once heard to say to the devout 
Pascal, " If I had your principles I would be a 
better man." He received this for a reply, "Begin 
with being a better man, and you will soon have 
my principles." Herein lies the great secret of 
success in the rearing of children. There is no 
mechanical system of rules w^hich can be promulga- 
ted for all and then reposed upon in every case. 
Family government resides in the governor, who- 
ever he may be at the moment. Sometimes the 
children govern the parents, and sometimes parents 
govern the children: and whichever it is, we may 
be sure the thing is done not by theoretic princi- 
ples, but by a subtle personal power producing per- 
sonal subjection. 

In securing the lessons taught us to-day, the 
entire history of Eli's household will have to come 
into the discussion. The tragedy of the old man's 
death, and the miserable end of the sons, will better 
serve as an illustration of the sure results of mis- 
takes committed through a lengthened course of 



38 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

years. So now a mere grouping together of a few 
observations will help us in our analysis. 

1. In disorderly families it is likely that both 
parents and children will have to divide the blame. 
If affection does not lie at the base of all the asso- 
ciations under the home roof, then each in turn will 
feel the want and will show it. 

Classic fable relates that Vulcan constructed as 
his first work at the forge a throne of gold, which 
he declared was for his mother Juno to sit upon; 
the moment she placed herself in it, however, she 
found herself unable to move. The gods tried to 
set her at liberty by breaking the chains that held 
her to the seat; but they failed, for the hard-hearted 
son alone had power to unloose the links. Then he 
explained his conduct; he said his reverence was 
like her care, for his cold mother had never loved 
him, and he had never known affection in his obe- 
dience. 

2. When children grow up into vicious courses, 
it is wise for parents to try to change the tempta- 
tions which injured them. That will perhaps keep 
others from a like ruin. *'Tell me," once said a 
gentleman to a drunkard, as he urged him to re- 
form, "tell me where it was you took your earliest 
steps in this terrible career." And the man replied, 
"At my father's table. Before I had left home to 
become a clerk I had learned to love drink for its 
own sake; the first drop I ever tasted was handed 
me by my mother, who calls me now a sot and calls 
herself a martyr." 

3. When God sends a warning, it will not do 



ELl'S FAMILY GOVERNMENT. 39 

just to settle down into a discouraged apathy and 
consider it resignation. 

The young Samuel must have had many misgiv- 
ings in his heart before he could transmit to Eli the 
awful messao^e with which he had been chareed ; 
*' And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a 
thing in Israel at which both the ears of every one 
that heareth it shall tingle. In that day I will per- 
form against Eli all things which I have spoken 
concerning his house: when I begin, I will also 
make an end. For I have told him that I will 
judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he 
knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, 
and he restrained them not. And therefore I have 
sworn unto the house of EH that the iniquity of 
Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor 
ofiering for ever." But the child did his duty, and 
the old man settled back into what some would 
consider a very exemplary state of mind. "And 
Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from 
him. And he said, It is the Lord: let him do what 
seemeth him good." Not an effort to w^ard off judg- 
ment ; not a deprecation, not a prayer! Why, 
even the heathen king of Nineveh did better than 
that (Jonah 3 :6-io). Christian parents, when they 
discover peril close ahead, should rise with most 
energetic means of interposition in behalf of those 
whom they profess to love. 

4. In considering the matter of home govern- 
ment, we must remember that the children have 
some rights. No one principle is lodged in a boy's 
mind by nature more deeply than that of a strict 



40 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

and irrevocable justice. He wants the chance of 
time or opportunity to be heard, in any case of trou- 
ble; he feels that he has the inalienable right to 
make his righteousness appear if it can be done. 
Hence the need of quiet and reflection and calmness 
in all kinds of discipline. ' That is what renders 
parental government trustworthy. " How doth the 
destiny of families," exclaims the old ^schylus, in 
his "Agamemnon," ''directing their ways accord- 
ing to justice, always produce good children ! But 
ancient insolence is wont to generate new insolence, 
to the mischief of mortals some time or another, 
whenever the appointed day comes." 

A lady once consulted the moralist Johnson 
upon the degree of wickedness to be attached to 
her son's having stolen some apples out of a neigh- 
bor's orchard. "Madam," said he, with rather 
more of his ponderous solemnity than usual, "it 
depends a good deal upon the weight of the boy. 
My school-fellow David Garrick, who was always of 
small size, robbed a dozen trees with impunity; but 
the first time I climbed up into the midst of the 
apples, for I was a very heavy boy, the bough broke 
with me, and that was called a judgment. I have 
always supposed since that this must have been one 
of the reasons why Justice was represented as hold- 
ing a huge pair of scales." It is likely that the old 
gentleman, with deep sympathy for childhood, was 
doing a little something to mitigate the expected 
retribution, and was trying to suggest that boys 
were not all exactly alike. 

5. Ideas are yet influential in the training of even 



Elvl'S FAMILY GOVERNMENT. 41 

the stubbornest of children and even the vainest. 
There is a power in family instruction, and parents 
are to teach their children what is right and honest 
and decent and of good report. It is folly to think 
that young people are without reflection; no being 
on this footstool is more logical than a child in 
rushing out its notions into execution. One of the 
greatest instructors England ever knew left this 
published sentiment behind him when he died: 
*' Acts o:row out of thoug^hts. If a man's thinkinof 
be confined to trifling objects, his acts will corre- 
spond. So of religious belief If a Christian's faith 
be strong and ardent, a vitality w^ill be imparted to 
all he does. Pure doctrine, honestly held, begets a 
pure life; looseness in doctrine is followed by loose- 
ness in living, the world over." 

Perhaps the time will come in which people will 
cease foolishly to object that the hearts and habits of 
children ought to be allowed, especially in religious 
matters, to grow up unbiassed. But that time has 
not arrived yet; and we must just keep on repeating 
Coleridge's familiar story in his ' ' Table-Talk. ' * He 
says that Thelwall declared it to be unfair to influence 
a young mind by inculcating opinions before it came 
to such years of discretion as to be able to judge for 
itself. A while afterwards, he showed him his little 
dooryard, and told him it was his "botanical gar- 
den" which he considered very precious. "Why, 
how so?" inquired his friend; 'it is all covered 
with weeds." With that quiet preaching-manner 
of his the philosopher answered, " Oh, it is because 
the land has not yet come to years of discretion and 



42 FROM SAM U EI. TO SOLOMON. 

choice. I thought it unfair to prejudice the garden 
towards roses and strawberries, but the weeds took 
the liberty to grow. ' ' 

6. A proper measure of permissions should be 
mingled with the restrictions which the family sov- 
ereignty imposes. That is, when the old child-no- 
tion of perfect liberty, which is very near to perfect 
license, is disturbed by the necessities of social and 
domestic order, then a fresh notion should be con- 
structed in its place. 

Some of us in our New England childhood used 
to wonder why among the " forbiddings " and the 
**requirings " of a Catechism so venerable as ours, 
*' the next thing to inspiration," there had not been 
introduced a few, just a few, *' permittings," so as 
to afford an outlet for animal spirits in rustic sur- 
roundings where noise did no special injury. It 
helped this questioning disposition when some one 
gave us *'Ouarles' Emblems," and we heard the 
dry old teacher saying at the foot of a picture, " If 
thy son be given to lavish company, endeavor to 
stave him off with lawful recreations; the discre- 
tion of a father often prevents the destruction of a 
child." 

Those who are familiar with the autobiography 
of Goethe will perhaps recollect with what energy 
he exclaims, after recounting some painful frettings 
of parental discipline he himself endured, *'If el- 
derly persons wish to play the pedagogue properly, 
they should neither prohibit nor render disagreeable 
to a young man anything which gives him an inno- 
cent pleasure, of whatever kind it may be, unless 



ELl'S FAMILY GOVERNMENT. 43 

at the same time they have something else to put 
in its place or can contrive a substitute." 

7. The time for making impressions upon the 
minds and the hearts of children comes much earlier 
than many parents seem to suppose. Children no- 
tice the habits of those who care for them before 
they notice anything else whatsoever. 

The principle of authority is the first to be rec- 
ognized. When we were children it was publicly 
proclaimed that horses had to be "broken" before 
they could be driven with safety. Along came a man 
by the name of Rarey — let all respectable horses 
praise his memory! He taught and proved that the 
thing to be done was to instruct the animal, and 
show him kindly that he was simply mistaken in 
imagining he was to have his own way or remain 
his own master. But even Jean Paul Richter as- 
serts, "Either the will must be broken in child- 
hood or the heart in old age." Let the will be 
guided and controlled, not broken at all, and the 
heart will thereafter be safe, under the guidance of 
God. 

8. When a direct conflict of authority is reached 
there can be no compromise. The story that Gam- 
betta poked out one of his own eyes when a 
child, because his father would not permit him to 
do as he pleased, is perfectly true. What is not so 
generally known is that the elder Gambetta re- 
mained inflexible even after this appalling display 
of wilfulness. The boy was being educated at the 
Lycee of Cahors; and conceiving a dislike to the 
institution, asked to be removed from it. His 



44 FROM SAMU^I. TO SOI.OMON. 

father refused again and again. At last I^^on said, 
''I will put out one of my eyes if you send me 
back to the Lycee." It was holiday-time. "As 
you please," said the father, to whom it seems 
never to have occurred that his boy might have in- 
herited his own strength of purpose. The same 
day Iv^on took, not a pen-knife, as the popular tra- 
dition has it, but an inkstand, which he dashed 
with such violence against the eye as to destroy it. 
Shocked as was the elder Gambetta, he would not 
give in; and Leon returned to the Lycee. 

There could have been no other decision with 
such a lad. Better the loss of an eye than the vic- 
torious defiance of law. In this story of Bli he is 
blamed for not restraining his sons when they made 
themselves vile. 

9. Prayer for help every instant is the one ne- 
cessity for all success in family government. The 
devil of misrule is one of those evil spirits which 
cannot be cast out otherwise. 

The story of the mythical king often comes to 
use. He had employed his people to weave for 
him, and supplied the silks and patterns with which 
they were to work, and at the same time bade them 
if ever in trouble concerning the labor, to come to 
him without fear. Among the many busy at their 
looms was a little child who worked on cheerfully 
although often alone. One day when all the rest 
were distressed at the sight of the terrible tangles 
into which their silks had been drawn, they gath- 
ered around the child and asked, "How is it that 
you are so happy at your work? It is not so with 



ELl'S FAMILY GOVERNMENT. 45 

us; our difficulties are more than we can bear." 
*'Then why do you not tell the king?" inquired 
the frail weaver; "he has told us to, and that he 
would help us." " We do, at night and morning." 
*'Ah!" said the child; " I send directly whenever 
I find I have a tangle." 

The truth is, the explosions of our own temper 
tangle more than anything else. The infinite calm- 
ness of even one moment of genuine supplication, 
when real prayer has become habitual, will do a 
vast work in controlling a turbulent outbreak. 
Only we are to remember that the opportunity 
passes swiftly, and the need of help is the signal for 
instant resort to the Source of it. 

The point of consideration in every case is con- 
cerning our purpose in training children at all. 
One of our noted evangelists has told us a story 
somewhat like this: A mother lay dying, some time 
ago, and she requested her children to be brought 
to her bedside. The eldest one came in first, and 
putting her loving hands on his head, she gave him 
a mother's parting message. Then came another, 
and then another. To all of them she gave her 
parting message, until the last — the seventh one, an 
infant — was brought in. She was so young she 
could not understand the message of love; so the 
mother gave it to her husband for her, and then she 
took the child to her bosom and caressed it until 
her time was almost up. Then, turning to her hus- 
band, she said: " I charge you to bring all these 
children home to heaven with you." 



46 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 



V. 



AN OLD TESTAMENT REVIVAL 

"Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh 

AND ShEN, and called THE NAME OF IT EbENEZER, SAYING, 

Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." — i Sam. 7 : 12. 

Thirty years ago there used to be more said 
about revivals of religion than there is now. Some 
excellent Christians there are who think that the 
old system of things was better than the modern. 
They improve every opportunity offered in discus- 
sions to talk about it. For they really believe that 
the times of Nettleton, Finney, and Kirk were very 
like the "times of visitation " and the "times of 
refreshing" foretold by the prophets. They are 
accustomed to pronounce those historic periods to 
have been the most prosperous ever vouchsafed to 
the American churches. So they will enjoy the 
study of this chapter to-day. 

I. In the beginning, a sermon was preached : 
"And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, 
saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your 
hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashta- 
roth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto 
the Lord and serve him only; and he will deliver 
you out of the hand of the Philistines." It is evi- 
dent here that Samuel made a most admirable im- 
provement of the occasion. A crisis had been 
reached ; and in his searching and solemn dis- 



AN OLD TESTAMENT REVIVAL. 47 

course lie seems to have sought to make these four 
points, which certainly are worthy of employment 
always: 

1. Those people must admit the necessity of a 
new departure in their conduct and life imme- 
diately; they must "return unto the I^ord with all 
their hearts." 

2. They must put away every sign and vestige 
of a bad past; "strange gods" would have to be 
entirely relinquished, groves and images, forests 
and feastings, everything which came between them 
and Jehovah's worship. 

3. They must instantly enter upon a fresh spir- 
itual consecration: they would have to "prepare 
their hearts unto the Lord and serve him only." 

4. Then they must trust wholly to the ancient 
promises God had made to their fathers and to 
them; for he had covenanted to "deliver them out 
of the hands of" their foes. 

II. Then followed an exemplary response from 
the nation: "Then the children of Israel did put 
away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord 
only." 

This sudden and thorough cleansing of them- 
selves from forms of idolatry reminds us of what in 
Britain used to be called "a reformation of man- 
ners." The public conscience was moved, and 
certain external improvements in conduct were per- 
ceptible at once. The people were frightened and 
felt their need of divine help. It was comparatively, 
easy to start such a general uprising in behalf of. 
what was decent and devotional. 



48 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

III. Next, their leader sumiiioned a great assem- 
blage for a religious service of prayer: " And Sam- 
uel said, Gather all Israel to IMizpeh, and I will 
pray for you unto the Lord.'' Samuel understood 
that something more and something much deeper 
in experience would be disclosed the moment those 
fickle multitudes came into practical communion 
with Jehovah. When he began to acknowledge 
their sins for them, and rehearse the long, sad cata- 
logue of their disobediences, they would either have 
to admit his honesty or show the hardness of their 
hearts by denying his impeachments. 

There is a dreadful responsibility always laid 
upon ministers of the gospel when they propose to 
act as mediators and spokesmen between God and 
their people. How well Samuel did his duty that 
day we may learn from the record of him as an in- 
tercessor; for he is mentioned with j\Ioses and Aaron 
as notable (Psa. 99: 6): "Moses and Aaron among 
his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon 
his name; they called upon the Lord, and he an- 
swered them." 

IV. Now comes what might be called a pro- 
tracted meeting: "And they gathered together to 
I\Iizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before 
the Lord, and fasted on that day, and said there, 
We have sinned against the Lord. And Samuel 
judged the children of Israel in ^lizpeh." 

There is always a point at which human media- 
tion in behalf of sinners must cease ; then the sin- 
ners must take up the duty of supplication for them- 
selves, or be lost. This was true of even such a 



AX OLD TESTAMENT REVIVAL. 49 

prophet-priest as Samuel (Jer. 15:1): "Then said 
the Lord unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood 
before me, yet my mind could not be towards this 
people: cast them out of my sight and let them go 
forth." 

God respects the individual free-will of each man 
in the reckoning of accountability; his friends and 
neic^hbors must stand aside for him to come and 
seek his own salvation: " None of them can by any 
means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom 
for him." In this case the people were intelligent 
enough to undertake at least these four duties which 
are mentioned. 

1. They came to a direct posture of humiliation; 
they '* fasted on that day." That w^as in those 
times the symbol of penitent prostration and self- 
denial. If there be any Christians w4io think that 
fasting is not given as a salutary ordinance for the 
church in New Testament times, it remains only 
to be said that the spirit and temper which the ab- 
stinence from food signified are certainly prescribed 
(Jas. 4:8-10): "Draw nigh to God, and he will 
draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, 
and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. Be af- 
flicted and mourn and weep; let your laughter be 
turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. 
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he 
shall lift you up." The members are to be morti- 
fied, and the heart is to be bowed under the sense of 
guilt. 

2. Then these people made confessions of sin : 
they "said there, We have sinned against the 

From Samuel to Solomon. O 



50 FROM SAMUKL TO SOI.OMON. 

lyOrd." There is a mysterious power in the sound 
of one's voice when he is on his knees before the 
Almighty. Those who are entirely unmoved, even 
stubborn in their resistance to the Spirit of grace, 
have been known to break forth into tears of shame 
and contrition as soon as they have begun to speak 
for themselves. It is folly to think that one can be 
penitent and yet be too proud to tell the Lord so ; 
the heart may believe, but the mouth must do the 
confession (Rom. lo: lo). 

3. Next, these repenting people soberly renewed 
their covenant: "They drew water, and poured it 
out before the Lord." It is interesting to notice 
the explanations made by the various commentators 
on this significant action. One says: ''They poured 
out water in confirmation of the vow they were 
about to make, which was declared as irrevocable 
as the spilling of water upon the ground " (2 Sam. 
14: 14). One of the Targums renders the clause 
thus: "And they poured out their hearts in peni- 
tence as waters before the Lord." Gill says: "This 
signified that they thoroughly renounced idolatry, 
that nothing of it should remain, as when water is 
poured out of a cask there remains no smell, as there 
does when other liquors are poured out." What- 
ever their action did positively mean, as they un- 
derstood it, so much as this is certainly true: they 
gave their promises of obedience once more, with 
this for a solemn ratification as by an oath; they 
pledged themselves anew unto Jehovah as their 
God. 

4. They put themselves into condition for fresh 



AX OLD TESTAMENT REVIVAL. 5 1 

activity in devotion. The best explanation of that 
statement, " Samuel judged the children of Israel 
in Mizpeh," seems to be that he reorganized the 
people afresh, for military service and for civil 
order and for religious worship; he took the charge 
of the new plans for future obedience; assuming 
that they were now going to turn completely unto 
God, he fashioned their life for them on a perma- 
nent basis. 

V. Then there came the descent of blessing: in 
fulfilment of the Lord's covenant. It is profitable, 
as an exhibition of human nature, to notice this 
mingling of strength with weakness on the part 
of those people: they were so scared, and yet con- 
tinued so trustful: *'And when the Philistines 
heard that the children of Israel were gathered to- 
gether to Mizpeh, the lords of the Philistines went 
up against Israel. And when the children of Israel 
heard it they were afraid of the Philistines." 

1. Real consecration of Christians generally 
evokes new opposition from foes. Satan w^atches 
for the moment of deepest piety in order to make 
his most savage attack. 

2. Importunate prayer is the condition of all 
success: "And the children of Israel said to Sam- 
uel, Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, 
that he will save us out of the hands of the Philis- 
tines." The people plead with Samuel now, and 
he persists. 

3. The full consecration of one's soul must rec- 
ognize the sacrifice for sins: " And Samuel took a 
sucking lamb, and oflfered it for a burnt offering 



53 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

wholly unto the Lord: and Samuel cried unto the 
Lord for Israel; and the Lord heard him." This 
lamb was the suggestion of atonement made by a 
Redeemer. 

4. God is faithful to the instant in his interposi- 
tion: ''And as Samuel was offering up the burnt 
offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against 
Israel: but the Lord thundered with a great thun- 
der on that day upon the Philistines, and discom- 
fited them; and they were smitten before Israel. 
And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and 
pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until they 
came under Bethcar." While Samuel was at the 
altar the need came, and the help followed the need 
*' while he w^as speaking," just as it did in the 
prayer of Daniel (Dan. 9:20, 21). 

VI. There remained now nothing more than to 
erect a memorial of the transaction: "Then Sam- 
uel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and 
Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, 
Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." And we might 
as well turn the whole force of the story at once 
upon ourselves, and assert that each interposition of 
God in our behalf, temporal or spiritual, ought to 
have a grateful recognition in our lives. 

I. All glory and honor of the achievement 
should be distinctly ascribed to God: "The Lord 
hath helped us." Once there was made a plain 
enunciation of this principle (Judg. 7:2): "And 
the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are 
with thee are too many for me to give the Midian- 
ites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves 



AN OLD TESTAMENT REVIVAL. 53 

against me, saying, Mine own hand hatli saved me." 
And once there was a denunciatory warning given 
(Isa. 10:12, 13): "Wherefore it shall come to pass 
that when the Lord hath performed his whole work 
upon Mt. Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the 
fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria and 
the glory of his high looks. For he saith, By the 
strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wis- 
dom; for I am prudent; and I have removed the 
bounds of the people, and have robbed their treas- 
ures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a 
valiant man." 

2. We should make our acknow^ledgment as 
permanent as possible. Samuel chose stone; so did 
Jacob (Gen. 28:18). Some of us might keep an an- 
niversary of peculiar providences, or inscribe the 
family record in the Bible, or give a new name to a 
child, or even plant a memorial tree; and then sing 
the song: 

** Here I '11 raise my Ebenezer, 
Hither by thy help I 'm come ; 
And I hope, by thy good pleasure, 
Safely to arrive at home." 

3. We should take pains to group our memorials 
so that one shall strengthen the other. Samuel set 
up his pillar between Mizpeh, where this deliver- 
ance was vouchsafed, and Shen, where another had 
been vouchsafed in the victory gained over the 
Philistines twenty years before. Thus he linked 
the histories together, like pearls in a necklace. 
After a while one might be able to read famous 
Hebrew annals of rescue all over Canaan. 



54 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

4. Bach successive deliverance by a gracious 
God should deepen our trust and quicken our ex- 
pectation; for we sing again: 

" His love in times past forbids me to think 
He '11 leave me at last in trouble to sink ; 
Each kind Ebenezer I have in review 
Confirms his good pleasure to help me quite through." 

The careful investigation of such an incident as 
this has given us certain conclusions which might 
well be stated at the close of our study now. 

1. A revival of religion is located in the church, 
and assumes a previous state of sad and guilty back- 
sliding. 

2. The conversion of sinners is not a revival; it 
is the gracious result that follows one which is gen- 
uine. 

3. Any ^'measures^^ are allowable, provided 
they are decent and orderly, that will lead believers 
to penitence and duty. 

4. Blessed is the congregation whose spirituality 
is lifted and whose life is saved by a day of God's 
visitation. 

5. More blessed still is that church w^hich never 
had a revival in all its history, and never needed 
one. 



''vox POPULI, VOX DKI." 55 



VI. 



*'VOX POPUU, VOX DEI.'^ 

" And the Lord said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, 

AND MAKE THEM A KING." — I Sam. 8 : 22. 

Perhaps there is no proverb which is more fa- 
miliar, as it is certain there is none more faulty, 
than this : "The voice of the people is the voice of 
God." We enter to-day upon the study of a frag- 
ment of history which furnishes a most decided 
proof of its untruth. And since the motto is I^atin, 
it might as well go now with a comment upon it 
from one of the greatest of the old Roman philoso- 
phers, even Cicero himself, who says in his treatise 
Concerning I^aws : " It is most absurd to suppose 
that all the things are just which are found in the 
enactments and institutions of a State. There is no 
such power in the sentence and command of fools 
as that by their vote the nature of things can be 
reversed. The law did not begin when first written, 
but when it first had existence ; that is, when the 
divine mind first had existence." 

In entering upon the study of Saul's biography 
we choose to use the Scripture record as the founda- 
tion of remark just as it meets the ordinary reader 
of the Bible. We can expound or illustrate as ap- 
pears to promise most profit. We can take up the 
verses one by one, and the religious lessons will 
come out "naturally as we read along together. 



5° FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

1. The story gives us the date to start with, and 
connects present histories with those of a great and 
honored past. Samuel is still at the nation's head, 
but failing: "And it came to pass, when Samuel 
was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.'* 

Our first practical reflection here is common- 
place, but it ought to be of help in moderating the 
notions of a great many people: grace is not always 
hereditary. It was not in the case of EH, and it is 
not here in the case of Samuel. Johnson's Dic- 
tionary defines the word gentleman, "one of good 
extraction, but not noble." On that basis there are 
more gentlemen in society perhaps than might be 
suspected. Piety cannot be transmitted according 
to physical laws, however ; and yet it seems as if 
we might insist upon the signal benefits of being 
born of good stock rather than of corrupt. And on 
the whole, it is most likely we shall all be found 
quoting the familiar inferences of Thomas Fuller, 
from his "Good Thoughts in Bad Times," as our 
most contented conclusions : "Lord, I find the gen- 
ealogy of my Saviour strangely checkered with 
four remarkable changes in four immediate genera- 
tions : first, Roboam begat Abia, a bad father begat 
a bad son ; second, Abia begat Asa, a bad father 
begat a good son ; third, Josaphat begat Joram, a 
good father a bad son. I see. Lord, from hence, 
that my father's piety cannot be entailed ; that is 
bad news forme ; but I see, also, that actual impiety 
is not hereditary ; that is good news for my son." 

2. Who were these sons of Samuel ? Unfortu- 
nately there is no account of them that gives any 



'*VOX POPULI, VOX DEI." ^7 

satisfaction. Samuel's name has been our very 
spell to conjure with for three thousand years in the 
educational training of our children. He evidently 
did what he could to bring all the help possible to 
his boys from holy associations. He followed the 
custom of the times in dedicating them to God and 
giving the memorial of their religious responsibil- 
ity : "Now the name of his first-born w^as Joel ; and 
the name of his second, Abiah : they were judges in 
Beersheba." 

The lesson we learn here is worth pressing a 
little : nod/e names do not change bad hearts nor 
make wicked men fit to hold high office. Samuel 
probably hoped a great deal for those sons of his 
when he fixed upon them such names as these in 
the reverent regard for the old faith of Israel. 
*'Joel" signifies ychovah is God; and "Abiah" 
means yehovah is my Father. We have no evidence 
that these children cared for their fine names while 
they were little, as Samuel did for his when he 
moved reverently around in the ministrations of the 
Tabernacle, a devout lad, obedient to God and to Eli. 
And we have very sad evidence that, after they had 
grown up, these sons of the old priest-judge strayed 
far away from any recognition of the Lord's service. 
It must have sounded like a sarcasm and a mockery 
to call such creatures by such names as those. 

We use now what we call among ourselves "our 
Christian names;" a significance ought to be at- 
tached to that fact. It does not follow in every case 
that they were bestowed by our parents with any 
direct pertinency of meaning as words, for that is 



58. FROM SAMUEL TO SOI^OMON. 

not our modern custom. Still there is often in one's 
name a suggestion which might as well be heeded. 
We surely might expect that a maiden called " So- 
phia" ought not to be a fool, for her name means 
wisdom. And just so "Gertrude" suggests a 
character oi all- truth. And "Alfred" becomes a 
pledge of all-peace. And "lyconard" must not 
be a coward as long as he is called lion-like, 
"Francis" is to he frank ^ and "Anna" is to be 
gracious^ or intelligent people will laugh when 
their names are called out in the room. Surely 
Nathanael, Theodore, Blnathan, and Dorothy ought 
to bear in mind every day and hour that their 
names all alike signify the gift of God. 

But it would never be fair to flaunt old and hon- 
ored family designations in our faces, and claim 
reverence for any man or woman whose life is a 
shame to them. It is unbecominof to ask orenteel- 
minded citizens to pay the old respect to sunken 
habits and low tastes, when some men and women 
come forward into conspicuousness quite unworthy 
of honored ancestral memories. There lived once a 
vice-president of the United States who had no 
more right to be called " Burr" than he had to be 
called "Aaron;" he had lost the character that 
fitted either name. 

3. The illustration of all this grows more and 
more vivid as the story moves on ; the next verse 
reads : "And his sons walked not in his ways, but 
turned aside after lucre, and took bribes and per- 
verted judgment." 

The lesson we learn from this is explanatory as 



"vox POPULI, VOX DEI." 59 

well as full of admonition : covetousncss is idolatry. 
These young men prostituted the position which 
their father's name gave them ; they actually sold 
place and influence at a price. In a word, they 
were bribe-takers. A curious word is this here ren- 
dered "lucre;" it is precisely that which Moses 
employed when he was defining the duties and char- 
acter of a judge : "Moreover, thou shalt provide out 
of all the people able men, such as fear God, men 
of truth, hating covetousncss ; and place such over 
them to be rulers of thousands and rulers of hun- 
dreds, rulers of fifties and rulers of tens : and let 
them judge the people at all seasons : and it shall 
be that every great matter they shall bring unto 
thee, but every small matter they shall judge : so 
shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the 
burden with thee. ' ' That word ' ' covetousncss ' ' is 
the same as the word "lucre" in this verse before 
us. The old Hebrew Targum translates it, "the 
mammon of falsehood." It is interesting to observe 
how carefully the language is selected so as to show 
that these sons of Samuel were exactly what their 
office demanded they should not be. The command 
of the Law was direct and unmistakable : "Thou 
shalt not pervert judgment, and thou shalt not take 
a bribe. ' ' And here this verse of description asserts : 
they ' ' took bribes and perverted judgment. ' ^ Their 
covetousncss became irreligion. 

Men are agreed at last that the love of money is 
the root of all evil. But some may not have under- 
stood the meaning of the apostle who considered the 
greed for gain a breach of the first commandment in 



6o FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

the Decalogue. But before we leave this part of the 
history we shall discover that through the system 
of bribe-taking these younger men did much to turn 
the whole nation from God's reign. Such a perver- 
sion of official trust into personal enrichment is an 
old, contemptible sin, with not even the small grace 
of originality in it ; it would be better to be sold as 
a chattel than as a villain ; the one is a free-slave, 
the other a bond-serf of Satan. 

4. At this point the Scripture narrative begins 
to indicate the effect of all this disastrous corruption 
in Samuel's own family. Some of the influential 
men of the nation suddenly advance to the front and 
propose to interfere in governmental affairs. They 
think a revolution would be a very proper thing to 
make just now; but they coolly suggest that Samuel 
should vacate his place as the first condition of good. 
A brave attack could be started against the old man ; 
but it seems not to have occurred to them that it 
would have been more to the point to suppress the 
bribe-givers and the bribe-takers at once, give them 
both an equal retribution and relieve the land, than 
just to push out of position the old man who had 
served them for unreckoned years, and stood a hun- 
dred storms in their behalf, with simple majesty of 
fidelity to the work God himself had set him to do : 
*'Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves 
together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah." 

Civakers always find easy companionsJiip : that is 
our lesson now. Ravens are said to detect afar off 
birds of the same black feather and the same lugu- 
brious voice. These " elders of Israel " in the story 



*'VOX POPULI, VOX DEI." 6 1 

might surely have been about better business than 
ministering to popular discontent. They were liv- 
ing under a theocracy, and God was overhead; they 
could have interfered before for the suppression of 
these corrupt judges, and in a wiser way. It was a 
remark of Lord Beaconsfield that " it is much easier 
to be critical than to be correct." Many a man 
can erow melancholv and even boisterous over the 
sins of the age who never has contributed in any 
cheerful degree to its purity. Failures of good men 
are sometimes made apologies for bad men encoura- 
ging sins. Dissatisfaction finds it entertaining to 
breed distrust, and at such a hint from "elders" 
men begin to clamor merely for a party change. 
And thoughful citizens wonder whether anything 
is going to be gained by putting in a fresh set of 
ungorged bribe-takers. Joel and Abiah were bad 
enough ; we wonder if the monarchists liked the 
atmosphere better when Saul came into power. 

The plan proceeds plausibly. Good and even 
venerable men are at times very unwise and much 
mistaken. Though numbers increase, the intelli- 
gence does not grow, when it is all folly from the 
beginning. It is fashionable to prate about the 
voice of the people: vox poptili^ vox Dei: here the 
voice of the people is directly against the voice of 
God on a great moral and political issue. A thou- 
sand votes for a wrong is not enough to make it 
right : once nothing is nothing, twice nothing is 
nothing, ten times nothing is nothing, a thousand 
times nothing is nothing: how many Israelite elders 
would be necessary so to multiply nothing as to 



62 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

make it foot up something at last? Just as many, 
we reply, as at any time it would take of wrong- 
headed men to make wrong right. 

5. But now let us bear in mind that when a 
mean thing has to get itself done somehow, it re- 
quires a vast amount of meaningless talk for its ad- 
vancement into recognition and success. These 
elders came up in a body to Samuel on the hill at 
Ramah, "and said unto him, Behold, thou art old, 
and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a 
king to judge us like all the nations." 

Our practical lesson from this part of the story 
is this: graceful language is sometimes used to conceal 
thought^ and not expjrss it. Diplomacy has a certain 
strong flavor of antiquity about it. Just notice how 
these crafty elders plead their hypocritical argu- 
ments for an overthrow of the government, and 
shake the conscientious scruples of the faithful old 
man by the humiliating and cruel arraignment of 
his sons. Those were not the real reasons why they 
wanted a king. Lord Bacon declares that " in all 
wise human governments they that sit at the helm 
do more happily bring their purposes about, and 
insinuate more easily into the minds of the peo- 
ple, by pretext and oblique courses than by direct 
methods; so that all sceptres and maces of authority 
ought in very deed to be crooked in the upper end." 
There has hardly ever been a sin so heinous as that 
plausible reasons of State could not be urged by 
elastic consciences in favor of it. It was an old say- 
ing of Pascal that the world is satisfied wdth words, 
and few care to dive beneath the surface of them. 



''vox POPULI, vox DEI." 6t, 

Logic has very little to do with the utterances of a 
bad heart when politicians begin to reason ; and 
there is truth in the sarcasm of one of the wittiest 
of Frenchmen: "When the major of an argument 
is an error, and the minor a passion, it is to be 
feared that the conclusion will be a crime, for this 
is a syllogism of self-love. ' ' These ' ' elders ' ' wanted 
the show and glitter of royalty "like all the na- 
tions;" what had that to do with Samuel's sons? 
Why did they not suppress the sons and cling to 
God? 

6. It becomes evident that we cannot finish the 
exposition of so extensive a chapter in a single dis- 
course; let us group the suggestive instructions of 
the passage into one for our closing to-day: we be- 
come more and more sure as we read on that majori- 
ties are not to be trusted amo7tg even the wisest of men. 
"The thing displeased Samuel when they said, 
Give us a king to judge us;" and in the end we 
shall see that it displeased the Lord and brought on 
the people his heavy retributions. 

It has long been a maxim in this republic of 
ours that the openly expressed will of each majority 
ought to be accepted and sustained. There never 
was a falser or more destructive sentiment. Why, 
this assertion assumes that the new earth has already 
been created wherein is to dwell righteousness. 
The majority of this world is against God; so, of 
course, the majority would be against right and 
truth and godliness. The great pioneer work of 
righteousness has always been done by minorities 
and generally by martyrs. Gibbon records in his 



64 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

history that in the Roman Senate, at a full meet- 
ing, the emperor once proposed, according to the 
forms of the republic, the important question 
whether the worship of Jupiter or that of Christ 
should be the religion of the Romans. On a regu- 
lar division of the senators, Jupiter was condemned 
by a large majority and the Christian religion was 
approved. What did a majority like that mean? 
It was a simple mockery and a lie. Jesus of Naz- 
areth never became the deity of the Roman Empire. 
The liberty that the ruler allowed, the freedom of 
suffrages which he affected to grant to the people, 
was destroyed by the hopes and fears which his 
personal presence inspired. The senate imagined 
that he wished the change, and they felt it would 
be dangerous to oppose him. Majorities can be 
gotten on almost every occasion for the right or 
for the wrong indiscriminately, according to the 
popular epidemic of enthusiasm at the time. 

What is wanted in our day is the virtue of an 
individual courage and of a personal conviction. We 
need voters with a conscience that impels them to 
stand by the right measures and support the right- 
eous men for administering them. It ought to go 
without the saying that a city like this of ours 
should rise in its majesty against party and against 
trickery of placemen, and put at least common de- 
cency in the lead. Is it possible that we Christians 
are worse than the heathen ? And yet it is true 
that the Koran of Mohammed says: "A ruler who 
appoints any man to an oflRce, when there is in his 
dominion another man better qualified for its duties, 



*'VOX POPULI, VOX DKI." 65 

sins against God and sins against the State." But 
how is the ruler that appoints an unworthy man 
any worse than the citizen that votes for such a 
man ? And if a party joins to do it, is not that a 
conspiracy? And if a community tolerates it, is 
not that a sin and a shame? iVnd if God is against 
sin, what becomes of the sinner ? 

It seems to me, my friends, that the hour has at 
last arrived in all the walks of our ordinary life 
when one must take his stand for an unwaverinof 
decision. In business, in politics, in theology, in 
Christian activity, in morals, every true believer 
must choose the right as God gives it to him, and 
be satisfied to cling to it if need be alone. To go 
with the multitude is easy; to go, with a surrender 
of our entire life, with God and the truth is some- 
times hard. But the end is not yet for this history 
of ours. All the elders in Israel banded together in 
the conclave at Ramah could not make that single 
wrono- to be riofht. 

Once in the old times Daniel was perplexed, and 
there came a celestial visitant who strenorthened 
him; what he said to him w^as this: ''I will show 
thee that which is noted in the Scripture of truth; 
there is none that holdeth with me in these things 
but Michael your prince." None but Michael! but 
]\Iichael vv^as the Messiah, and the Messiah was 
Jesus the Christ. We can afford to be satisfied, be 
strong, be stubborn even, when we know that he 
who holdeth with us is Christ our Prince. 

From Samuel to Solomon. 



66 FROM SAMUEI. TO SOLOxMON. 



VII. 



PRAYER ANSWERED UNDER PROTEST. 

"Now THEREFORE HEARKEN UNTO THKIR VOICE: HOWBEIT YET 
PROTEST SOLEMNLY UNTO THEM AND SHOW THEM THE MANNER 
OF THE KING THAT SHALL RLIGN OVER THEM."— I Sam. 8:9. 

Prayer is certainly a most salutary exercise 
whenever one is agitated beyond his strength. 
When the elders of Israel came to Samuel, deliber- 
ately proposing that he should give up the reins of 
government and set about the task of finding a suc- 
cessor for himself to whom they might give the 
power and title of a king, his mind was filled with 
irrepressible foreboding and alarm: " But the thing 
displeased Samuel, when they said. Give us a king 
to judge us: and Samuel prayed unto the Lord." 
It would not be fair to assert that Samuel was 
vexed to lose the patronage of the government 
offices out of the family, nor that he was hurt be- 
cause these people intimated that he was becoming 
superannuated: we have no suggestion in all his 
history that he was either jealous or corrupt. But 
he discovered that the complication was now too 
deep for an old man like him to deal with ; and so 
he went in prayer to God. 

In the end we shall learn that the petition of 
these malcontents was granted, but with the answer 
came retribution and ultimate dismay. If we go 
patiently through with the particulars of the story, 



PRAYER ANSWERED UNDER PROTEST. (i"] 

we shall discover that in it there is given one of the 
best illustrations to be found in all the Bible of just 
this proposition: Prayers are sometimes answered 
under protest. Let us, then, move on at once in our 
search. 

I. We shall have to begin with a fair and de- 
tailed exposition of the narrative as it meets us. 
The old judge brought his whole case in his suppli- 
cation before the Lord he had unfalteringly trusted 
so long. "And the Lord said unto Samuel, Heark- 
en unto the voice of the people in all that they say 
unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they 
have rejected me, that I should not reign over 
them." 

I. This verse, besides its bearing upon our main 
point, contains a valuable lesson of its own: Rejcct- 
hig divi7ie providence is rejecting divine government and 
forfeiting divijie favor. There is no sense in a 
declaration that we accept God's law in general, 
but reserve the right to practical freedom in refer- 
ence to particulars. Men seem to imagine in these 
times of ours that one voids his individual responsi- 
bility if he is acting in a public capacity. These 
people had the same absurdity in their notions of 
what it was their privilege to do then. Samuel was 
of no special account; his sons indeed were deci- 
dedly in their way when what they wanted to do 
was to keep up appearances, and make a parade 
of royalty ' ' like all the nations. ' ^ But Samuel was a 
providential fact; he had been put there to represent 
an idea; he was the announced vicegerent of God. 
To reject him therefore was to reject God himself. 



68 FROM SAMUEI. TO SOI.OMON. 

*'The end of all civil government," says an 
ancient thinker, writing for our times as wisely as 
for his own, "is to live well according to the divine 
pleasure." The Almighty One had been ruling 
over Israel and prosperously caring for the nation 
many years. To ask for a human king was in effect 
to wish to dethrone Jehovah. It was of no use just 
to cry out, " Oh, we mean to obey God always, only 
we want to take this government into our own 
hands!" In times farther down in the history 
there were those who saw all this wickedness and 
subterfuge of national vanity in its proper light. 
The prophet Hosea was inspired to tell his genera- 
tion precisely the lesson to be learned from this old 
crime: "O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but 
in me is thy help. I will be thy King; where is 
any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and 
thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king 
and princes? I gave thee a king in mine anger, 
and took him away in my wrath." 

What makes this thought of more practical 
value to ourselves now is the fact that in such a 
way only can we commit the sin or merit the judg- 
ment of those Israelites. We can say with a New 
Testament meaning in our language that we will 
not have Christ to reign over us. But a perverse 
mind is always ready to add that it means to be 
obedient as a rule to all the general commandments 
of the Supreme Being; only people must keep up 
appearances, you know, and so they have to accept 
the social maxims and worldly behavior of those 
who are around. We are surely Christians, but in 



PRAYKR ANSWERED UNDER PROTEST. 69 

general, you know; not quite so particular as we 
might be, possibly, but with a decided respect for 
relio:ion always. 

Now this will not do; Jesus Christ is everything 
to a man, or he is nothing. In all human history 
there has never been a fitter leader to command our 
loyalty or to win our love. We have been told that 
the ancient Persian kings used to elect, for the edu- 
cation and training of their princes, the four best 
men in the kingdom — the justest man, the wisest 
man, the bravest man, and the most temperate 
man — so that each new sovereign mig-ht have the 
highest advantages, and come to the regal throne 
best fitted to rule over the people. Christ is the 
Prince of a kingdom that is supreme in the universe; 
and it hath pleased the Father that in him all ful- 
ness should dwell. When the providences of God 
summon us to follow Jesus as our Lord, to reject 
him is also to reject the Lord that made us, and defy 
him when he is most our friend. 

2. You must bear in mind, also, as this narra- 
tive proceeds, that wilful disobedience^ contimwiisly 
repeated^ becomes settled rebellion. "According to 
all the works which they have done since the day 
that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto 
this day, wherewith they have forsaken me and 
served other gods, so do they also unto thee." 

The reply which Samuel received reminded him 
that this was not a new case of sudden refusal of the 
divine sovereignty. That nation had actually got 
into the habit of it. They had never shown any- 
thing more commendable since they came up out of 



JO FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

the land of Pharaoh; they proved an awkward and 
ungainly people when^Moses was trying to manage 
them in the wilderness. Men may sin almost un- 
consciously till they forget how terribly lawless they 
are, how undermined and honey-combed with peril- 
ous corruption they have grown; and then they 
crash down suddenly into irretrievable crime. 
When one throws off God's beneficent restraints, it 
is surprising to see how awfully wicked he can be 
as in a moment of rapid demoralization. Things 
apparently innocent are made the baleful occasion, 
sometimes even the instrument, of violent outbreak 
in vice. 

It is one of the intense severities of Montaigne 
to say of these atheistic people that "they infect 
innocent matter with their own venom." Some 
skeptics like to do this in their reckless arguments. 
They force natural science, always loyal and rever- 
ent to the Creator of the universe, to speak a lie and 
bring false testimony against God. In an unruly 
time like this of ours we ought to be able to per- 
ceive this impious tendency in debate. It is the 
deliberate counting out of divine government which 
puts this universe in such a false position. When 
an ingenious and ribald infidel begins to assume the 
right to construct a system of things to suit himself, 
and leave God out of his own throne, there need be 
no surprise if confusion follows thrice confounded. 
The little things go in to make up the large; and 
little things are what a petulant mind always seizes 
upon first; and by-and-by one's temper becomes 
irritable and his mood is defiant. He grows habit- 



PRAYER ANSWERED UNDER PROTEST. 7 1 

uated inevitably to carping at everything that hap- 
pens; and this is the same rebellious spirit in our 
day as that which in Samuel's day was called openly 
by its true name, "following after other gods." 
The man is then practically an idolater. He has 
rejected Jehovah, and is virtually in insurrection 
against the government of heaven. And now he 
wanders into stillness and shame and tries to sat- 
isfy himself with falseness: " Ephraim feedeth on 
wind and followeth after the east wind: he daily 
increaseth lies and desolation: Ephraim compasseth 
me about w4th lies, and the house of Israel with 
deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God and is faith- 
ful with the saints." The only effective manner in 
which to deal with such a dangerous experience is 
found in letting it have its own way until it shall 
be weary and worn with its follies and be ready to 
return penitently to God. 

3. So now we come to the point that we started 
to reach. In the story is found the exact expres- 
sion: "Now therefore hearken unto their voice: 
howbeit, yet protest solemnly unto them, and show 
them the manner of the king that shall reign over 
them. ' ' Human pTayei's are sometimes granted with a 
divine protest. Solemn moment is that in which 
God gives to any man or nation in judgment what 
was asked of him in petulance and pride! He here 
tells Samuel to waste no time in expostulation; 
take the steps immediately to give these elders the 
leader they desired. He however adds the task of 
making them understand what sort of a monarch 
they will get in the end, and what a wretched con- 



72 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

dition they will be in before they are through with 
him. 

The aged prophet did his duty: ''And Samuel 
told all the words of the Lord unto the people that 
asked of him a king." It may be wise for us to 
read over his words together just here, for a ground 
of congratulation, if for nothing else, that we, in 
this republican land, are free from the burden of 
any such form of endurance. A sad sort of picture 
is that he furnishes of a monarchical government: 
"This will be the manner of the king that shall 
reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint 
them unto him, for his chariots and to be his horse- 
men; and they shall run before his chariots: and he 
will appoint them unto him for captains of thou- 
sands and captains of fifties; and he will set some 
to plough his ground and to reap his harvest, and to 
make his instruments of war and the instruments 
of his chariots. And he will take your daughters 
to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be 
bakers. And he will take your fields, and your 
vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of 
them, and give them to his servants. And he will 
take the tenth of your seed and of your vineyards, 
and eive to his ofiicers and to his servants. And 
he will take your menservants and your maidser- 
vants, and your goodliest young men, and your 
asses, and put them to his work. He will take the 
tenth of your flocks: and ye shall be his servants. 
And ye shall cry out in that day because of your 
king which ye shall have chosen you: and the Lord 
will not answer you in that day.'* 



PRAYER ANSWKRKD UNDER PROTEST. 73 

Now let US understand that ciramistanccs may 
erect a foreordained fact into a responsible sin^ for 
which those who are the actors are to be held ac- 
countable in the end. The Lord said these mal- 
contents in Israel might have their wish, and yet he 
charcres on them the gruilt the transaction involved. 
Furthermore, this very demand of the people had 
been foreseen and publicly predicted three hundred 
years before. But a single safeguard had been 
thrown around it, and so it was permitted: "When 
thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy 
God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt 
dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over 
me, like as all the nations that are about me; 
thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee 
whom the Lord thy God shall choose: one from 
among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: 
thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is 
not thy brother." Indeed, a king had been prom- 
ised for that nation whenever, in the wisdom of the 
omniscient God, it should seem advantageous for 
such people to have one. And yet this whole pro- 
ceeding was now wrong; it was premature and 
hasty, and it was conducted without reference to 
the overruling will of Jehovah. God's providence 
does not constrain any man's iniquit}*. Foreordina- 
tion has nothing to do with free-will. Those elders 
were doing their own behest, not God's; and they 
suffered for it. 

II. We turn now, in the second place, from this 
story to the one principle it so vividly illustrates. 
It is worth our while to press a valuable admonition 

4 



74 FROM SAMUKI. TO SOI.OAION. 

like that which is given here. We are told to let 
our hearts go forth in prayer continually unto God, 
and God will grant us our desires. But here we 
learn that not even the answers we obtain are to be 
trusted always. What does this mean in real ex- 
perience ? 

1. For one thing, it means that all petitions are 
to be offered, and all desires are to be pressed, ac- 
cording to the Lord's will before our will. If we 
thrust ourselves forward, divine Providence will 
frequently hedge up the way. If now we urge on, 
sometimes the barrier is seen to move quietly away; 
then we can have our request if we continue to 
press it. But is this safe or wise ? that is the sober 
question. It is the creature erecting itself against 
the supreme judgment of its Creator and taking its 
case into its own hands. WHien a man is intelli- 
gent, and his conscience tells him that God is not 
exactly granting, but only permitting, his prayer, is 
it best for him to persevere in it in the confident 
hope that courage will carry him through into 
safety? "Shall the axe boast itself against him 
that heweth therewith ? or shall the saw magnify 
itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod 
should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as 
if the staff should lift up itself as if it were no wood. 
Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send 
among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory 
he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire. ' ' 

2. And for another thing, this declaration means 
that when under protest God grants a Christian's 
prayer, the answer will be a positive discipline 



PRAYKR ANSWERED UNDER PROTEST. y^ 

rather than a blessing. You remember the story of 
Israel: "They soon forgat his works, they waited 
not for his counsel: but lusted exceedingly in the 
wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And 
he gave them their request, but sent leanness into 
their soul." See how this bears upon every-day 
life. A father was once praying beside the sick-bed 
of his child; what he said was this: ''Let him be- 
come what he will, only let him live, and I will be 
satisfied." At the moment the boy's face paled; 
he shuddered, and the physician exclaimed, " He is 
dying now!" The father fell on his knees and 
prayed again audibly, uttering his petition before 
all: " Let him become what he will, only let him 
live, and I will be satisfied." Then his son re- 
covered. Years passed, and he was a criminal, tried, 
condemned ; and on the walk to execution he turned 
airily to his father and said, " Will you please see me 
to the gallows?" It is well to have the right of 
petition; but it is not wise ever to press prayers 
against the divine protest. 



^< 



FRO-M SAM UK I. TO SOLOMON. 



VIIL 
SAMUEL'S FAREWEIvIy ADDRESS. 

"Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all 
YOUR heart: for consider how great things he hath 
done for you." — I Sam. 12 : 24. 

A FEELING of pensive regret comes into our ex- 
perience as we study the words of Samuel upon his 
retiring from the head of the nation. A few mal- 
contents, influenced by their own vanity and de- 
sire to figure, tell him that he must vanish from 
his place, and he cheerfully acquiesces, foreseeing 
the worse times on which they are going to run 
speedily. 

In the "Personal Memoirs of General Grant" 
there is found a very suggestive illustration which 
might aid us much in our thought. He says: " On 
the evening of the first day out from Goliad we 
heard the most unearthly howling of wolves directly 
in our front. The prairie grass was tall and we 
could not see the beasts, but the sound indicated 
that they were near. To my ear it appeared that 
there must have been enough of them to devour our 
party, horses and all, at a single meal. . . . But 
Benjamin did not propose turning back. When he 
did speak it was to ask, ' Grant, how many wolves 
do you think are in that pack ?' Suspecting that 
he thought I would overestimate the number, I de- 
termined to show my acquaintance with the animal 



SAMUEL'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 'J'J 

by putting the estimate below what possibly could 
be correct, and answered, ' Oh, about twenty,' very 
indiflferently. He smiled and rode on. In a minute 
we were close upon them and before they saw us. 
There were just two of them. Seated upon their 
haunches with their mouths close together, they had 
made all the noise we had been hearing for the past 
ten minutes. I have often thought of this incident 
since when I have heard the noise of a few disap- 
pointed politicians who had deserted their associ- 
ates. There are always more of them before they a7'e 
counted. ' ' 

But we desire to use this incident as a religious 
illustration rather than as a political. In its deepest 
and best elements real religious experience is the 
same the world over, the same in the Old Testa- 
ment as in the New. Amid all chancres of circum- 

o 

stances and education there is enouo^h of agfreement 
in essential points of evangelical delineation to 
arouse our sympathy, arrest our minds, and instruct 
our intelligence, whenever any one begins to talk 
about those "great things'' which the Lord has 
done for his chosen children. 

I. Let us turn our attention, in the first place, 
to the history just as it stands. There is much in 
the posture of affairs at the time when Samuel de- 
livered his parting address, as well as in the subject- 
matter of the address itself, w^hich w^ill give help to 
the lessons we shall learn concerning Christian ex- 
perience, as they will come before us afterw^ards. 

I. This famous leader of God's people does not 
retire out of sight under any sense of ignominious 



78 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

failure. No one can peruse this account of his sur- 
render of the government into the hands of Saul 
without feeling that the full dignity of the eminent 
and good old man is preserved. He seems to have 
gathered a vast assemblage of people at Gilgal, just 
after the coronation of their new kinof, and souo-ht 
a hearing from their minds and their consciences 
with more directness than ever before, at the same 
time demanding a verdict upon some personal par- 
ticulars which concerned his reputation in office: 
*'And now, behold, the king walketh before you: 
and I am old and gray-headed ; and, behold, my 
sons are with you: and I have walked before you 
from my childhood unto this day. Behold, here I 
am: witness against me before the Lord, and before 
his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass 
have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom 
have I oppressed ? or of whose hand have I received 
any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith ? and I will 
restore it you. And they said. Thou hast not de- 
frauded us nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken 
aught of any man's hand." 

2. He receives the public and emphatic ap- 
proval of the entire political career which he now 
closes. It would not be easy in all history to find 
a more sublime appeal than that which he ad- 
dresses to those who had known him so well. Evi- 
dently he does not look upon himself as shoved out 
of position impertinently, but simply as retired from 
it by the God of heaven whom it was his highest 
honor to obey. There can be nothing nobler for 
any public man than this testimony to his perfect 



SAMUEL'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 79 

integrity as lie disappears to make room for another 
to come into the lead: "And he said unto them, 
The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed 
is witness this day, that ye have not found aught 
in my hand. And they answered, He is witness." 

3. He now works a miracle to show that his 
power is still undiminished : "Now therefore stand 
and see this great thing which the Lord will do be- 
fore your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest to-day? I 
will call unto the Lord, and he shall send thunder 
and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your 
wickedness is great, which ye have done in the 
sight of the Lord, in asking you a king. So Sam- 
uel called unto the Lord; and the Lord sent thun- 
der and rain that day; and all the people greatly 
feared the Lord and Samuel." This is no foolish 
prompting of vanity; he does not appear to have 
desired to make an impression, just for its own sake, 
that his communion with Jehovah and his ability 
to wield the forces of omnipotence are as yet un- 
impaired. He has one supreme lesson to admin- 
ister, and this undoubted miracle is wrought in 
order to give it intensity. His hold is perpetuated 
upon their consciences from this time forward; he 
is the old man for counsel, and Saul the young man 
for war. Indeed, he becomes the power which is 
behind the throne. 

4. Then he rebukes the whole people for their 
sin in thus dethroning God from the supreme place: 
*'Now, therefore, behold the king whom ye have 
chosen and whom ye have desired ! and, behold, 
the Lord hath set a kingf over vou. And all the 



So FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto 
the Lord thy God, that we die not : for we have 
added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king.'* 
We cannot withhold our exalted admiration of this 
aged man as he stands there on the coronation day, 
and in the presence of the monarch who has just 
received the crown, denouncing the guilt of those 
who have turned aside from the counsels of their 
fathers' God. He is plain and earnest and brave. 
The rain falls over them as he speaks, the thunder 
is in the sky above their heads ; it is like the voice 
of Jehovah upon the waters: "The voice of the 
Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory thunder- 
eth; the Lord is upon many waters." 

5. He holds out before them the hope of retrieval 
of their wrong: "And Samuel said unto the people, 
Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn 
not aside from following the Lord, but serve the 
Lord with all your heart; and turn ye not aside: for 
then should ye go after vain things, which cannot 
profit nor deliver; for they are vain." They shall 
yet have another chance, if they will penitently re- 
turn to devout service of God. Let them give their 
hearts to him as before, and he will not forsake the 
people he has loved so long. And this patient, 
good, forgiving old man says that he will continue 
to pray in their behalf, and will try to teach them 
" the good and right way " still. 

6. So at last he counsels them to go over their 
history again, and consider what the Lord had done 
in the days gone by for their comfort and peace : 
"Moreover, as for me, God forbid that I should sin 



SAMUEL'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 8l 

against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I 
will teach you the good and the right way: only 
fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your 
heart: for consider how great things he hath done 
for you." He exhorts in terms of humblest plead- 
ing that they will remember that, whenever they 
have been faithful, God has been good and patient. 
IL Now it is this last sentiment, which indeed 
is the influential one of this whole speech, that has 
been given us to-day as a golden text for committal 
to memory. Upon it turns at once the lesson for 
present Christian experience. What Jehovah had 
done for Israel in fact he has done for every believer 
in figure; so that it becomes a most animating exer- 
cise for us, in the second place, to seek from Sam- 
uel's address the particulars of divine dealing with 
that nation which illustrate spiritually his dealings 
with Christian hearts everywhere. 

1. Samuel told his hearers that they ought to 
remember how God had found the children of Israel 
in Egyptian bondage and had stirred them up to 
long for deliverance. 

One of the chief things, as indeed it is the earli- 
est of all, that God does for each believer under the 
New Testament is to show him the deep depravity 
of his whole nature while he is in bondao-e to sin. 
It is not everybody who wants to see the sad state of 
his own heart, but he can never be saved without a 
glimpse of it; for he would never long for redeem- 
ing grace. 

2. Then this great leader told the people to recall 
how generously God had provided for Israel the 

From Samuel to Solomon, A/^ 



$2 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

means of deliverance. He had sent to them his 
servants Moses and Aaron. 

It would be a sad, hard thing to do, just to show 
a sinner his wickedness, and then leave him there 
in hopeless ruin. The least pity would prompt that 
he might be left to die in painless ignorance. Our 
Father in heaven has provided an atonement for 
sin, and actually despatched his only-begotten Son 
to bring the tidings of quick rescue to lost souls. 
Thus he has opened a way of escape through the 
gospel to all who will come and accept his grace. 

3. Next, Samuel tells his hearers that Jehovah 
had himself been their sole deliverer. Moses tried 
it once; but, alone, neither he nor Aaron could move 
that frightened, stubborn people to take a step in 
their own behalf. For simple safety Moses had to flee 
out of Egypt, as one sometimes has to flee in self- 
defence from the flames out of which he is trying to 
lead dumb cattle. God came in person; he sent his 
pillar of cloud and of fire to show them the way out 
of their perils. 

What the divine Presence was under the old dis- 
pensation, the divine Spirit is under the new. No 
man would ever enter a handsbreadth upon the path 
of peace with God's law unless some sort of con- 
straining influence came to aid him, as the angels 
came to seize Lot's hand to pull him away out of 
burning Sodom. The Lord has not only shown the 
sinner his need, and provided a full supply to meet 
it, but has also given his Spirit to lead each soul 
into the way and help it along to the very end. 

4. Samuel tells these people also that Jehovah 



SAMUEL'S I^AREWELL ADDRESS, St, 

had removed from them the punishments they had 
incurred by their own obstinate disobedience. It 
would have availed but a little, only giving a brief 
respite from deserved doom, if the Lord had deliv- 
ered Israel from the Philistines and the Moabites, 
and then reserved them to be rejected and con- 
demned and punished by himself. But his mercy 
had followed them with pardon. 

Here, again, we must remember how patiently 
and forbearingly the Almighty has removed from 
sinful men the consequences of their transgressions. 
He gives his Holy Spirit to work out an entire ren- 
ovation of one's whole nature, so that the man may 
be rescued from all danger of ultimate ruin. 

5. Then this address of the prophet-leader points 
out how Jehovah had bestowed upon Israel peculiar 
joys; it had pleased him to make them his people: 
"For the Lord will not forsake his people for his 
great name's sake: because it hath pleased the Lord 
to make you his people." No expression could 
have been more suofofestive than this to those who 
heard him that day. Through the wilderness jour- 
ney, on over the Jordan, many a w^eary, hard mile 
had he led those tribes; and yet every day and hour 
he had given them honey out of the rock and water 
in the midst of the desert, fine high inspirations of 
hope concerning the land of promise, comfort and 
expectation until now. 

Surely God has given the Christian peculiar 
joys, and in the fair sweet future held out before 
each true believer great and exhilarating hopes. 
Peace in believing, communion with Jesus, fellow- 



84 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

ship with the redeemed, ultimate freedom from 
indwelling sin, progress in knowledge, eternal secu- 
rity at the last — these are among the joys and 
hopes bestowed on the pardoned ones he loves. 

III. Thus w^e reach the orderly mention of those 
plain and practical admonitions which such a re- 
hearsal is likely to give. 

1. Christian reminiscence is a duty and a pleas- 
ure. All of us should diligently go over our whole 
history now and then, considering "how great 
things God hath done" for us. 

2. Gratitude for the past is a chief incentive to 
carefulness in the future. "Look unto the rock 
whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit 
whence ye are digged." 

3. What aggregates of mercy and hope and 
peace and joy do after a while gather around an 
aged Christian! The Almighty once told his people 
that if they were faithful to him he would make 
their days "as the days of heaven upon earth." 

4. There is need of an audible open expression 
of our acknowledgment of divine mercy. It is well 
to sing over and over again such hymns as "Jesus 
sought me when a stranger." It is well to speak 
out: "The Lord hath done great things." 

5. The gratitude of believers is an argument 
with the impenitent and unthankful (Deut. 10 :2i). 
Let all Christians say with the Psalmist: "Come 
and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare 
what he hath done for mv soul." 



ONE SIN TOO MANY. 85 



IX. 

ONE SIN TOO MANY. 

"And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee; 

FOR thou hast rejected THE WORD OF THE LORD, AND THE 

Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel." 
— I Sa7n. 15 : 26. 

The echo of that first glad shout of Israel, *' God 
save the king!" has hardly died away in the dis- 
tance before now we are summoned to behold his 
downfall in whose honor the people clamored. God 
is not going to save King Saul any longer; for he 
has committed one sin too much for the divine for- 
bearance. But he is going to save the realm he has 
permitted to rise into being. The whole story upon 
which we enter to-day affords an extensive illustra- 
tion of sin in almost all of its phases of manifesta- 
tion as judged by the righteous law of God. 

I. We discover the simple nature of sin: it is 
disobedience of a divine command. What Saul was 
bidden to do, he refused to do, and in the end did 
not do: that was sin. "Now go and smite Amalek, 
and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare 
them not; but slay both man and woman, infant 
and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. But 
Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of 
the sheep and of the oxen and of the fatlings and 
the lambs, and all that was good, and would not ut- 
terly destroy them.'* There is no need of bewilder- 
ing ourselves with a subtle analysis: "Sin is any 



86 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law 
of God." 

There is one enactment recorded in the Penta- 
teuch about nothing more or less than the eggs in a 
bird's nest (Deut. 22:6, 7): ^' If a bird's nest chance 
to be before thee in the way in any tree, or on the 
ground, whether they be young ones, or eggs, and 
the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, 
thou shalt not take the dam with the young; but 
thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the 
young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and 
that thou mayest prolong thy days.'^ 

This the Jewish rabbis have always pronounced 
to be " the least commandment in the law." Yet 
they called a man a transgressor if he broke it. And 
this is the New Testament rule for all time; if a 
Christian offends at one point, he disobe3's; and that 
is just the same as being guilty of all (Jas. 2:9-11): 
" For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet 
offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that 
said. Do not commit adultery, said also. Do not 
kill. Now, if thou commit no adultery, yet if 
thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the 
law." 

2. We learn, likewise, a lesson concerning the 
wide reach of sin. Saul felt quite independent in 
his disobedience; was he not the unquestioned gen- 
eral of an army of two hundred and ten thousand 
men? He did what pleased his own cupidity and 
satisfied his own pride, and took no account of other 
people. Now we see that this sin of his "grieved '^ 
Samuel so that it kept him crying in prayer all the 



ONE SIN TOO MANY. 87 

night. Moreover, it disinherited Jonathan, wrecked 
the new dynasty, mortified all the loyal subjects of 
the realm, and gave final offence unto God. 

It is not possible for any man to keep his sin all 
to himself; when a human will meets the divine 
will in opposition, it is sure to cause a vast disturb- 
ance. This universe is balanced with great nicety. 
It cannot endure a sinner's perversity without suf- 
fering any more than an oarsman can tolerate a 
perverse boy in a boat; every time the self-willed 
creature steps across the thwart, he rocks the vessel, 
and makes it uncomfortable and perilous for each 
one who has anything to do with him. 

3. Next to this, we discover an illustration of the 
bold effrontery of sin. Saul seems to forget that he 
agreed to send for Samuel whenever an exigency 
should arise, and wait for his arrival seven days in 
order to have his counsel in coming to a decision. 
He did not seek the prophet at all. Samuel came 
at the command of the Lord seeking him instead; 
and yet Saul hurriedly begins the conversation — 
begins it with a brag and a bluster and a blessing, 
all in one rush of breath: "And Samuel came to 
Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of 
the Lord: I have performed the commandment of 
the Lord.'' 

Thus iniquity often tries to carry off shame with 
a show of daring, and attempts to restore its self- 
confidence with a complacency of self-congratula- 
tion. Its fair picture for all the ages is found in the 
sharp description of a wicked woman, which Solo- 
mon gives us in the book of Proverbs: "She eateth, 



88 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no 
wickedness. ' ' 

4. Of course, now comes a lesson concerning the 
certain discovery of sin: ''And Samuel said. What 
meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine 
ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?" 
The very sheep gave their testimony with bleating, 
and the cattle lowed for a witness against this hypo- 
critical king; he was betrayed by his triumphs. 

Guilt always feels lonely ; and yet, curiously 
enough, always imagines that everybody knows 
about the crime. Conscience keeps the culprit 
excited, for he understands that nature positively 
abhors transgression of law. The universe has a 
thousand voices with which to speak, when the 
time comes for wickedness to be known. " Be sure 
your sin will find you out." 

5. Once more: the story gives us an illustration 
of the evasive meanness of sin: "And Saul said, 
They have brought them from the Amalekites; for 
the people spared the best of the sheep and of the 
oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the 
rest we have utterly destroyed." Notice the lan- 
guage here carefully. Saul was evidently an adept 
in the use of pronouns. "The people spared the 
best of the sheep and the oxen ;" but the rest of the 
spoils "we have utterly destroyed." When the 
guilt was proved " they " did it; so far as the slender 
obedience was admitted, "we" did it. One would 
think this king had been fairly outraged by the 
greed of his people, and at the same moment quite 
wonder-struck with their unusual devoutness. 



ONE SIN TOO MANY. 89 

Well, Adam set the example, when he charged 
his sin over to the woman who gave him the forbid- 
den fruit, and over to God who gave him the 
woman; and the w^oman quickly followed tlie ex- 
ample, when she charged her sin over to the ser- 
pent. Meantime, Jehovah held all of these three 
accountable for their own personal share in the 
wickedness. It was most contemptible for a mon- 
arch like Saul to shirk his responsibility on the 
army, w^hen he knew that if one of the soldiers had 
disobeyed him in a single act, he would have caused 
him to be hewed into pieces. But men who are 
caught in wrong are always doing the most un- 
manly things in order to get their punishment to be 
borne by others. 

6. Then we have a lesson concerning the hypo- 
critical excuses offered for sin: "And Saul said 
unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the 
Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent 
me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, 
and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But 
the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the 
chief of the things which should have been utterly 
destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in 
Gilgal." 

Saul said that these excellent dumb creatures 
were brought home with him for the pious services 
of burnt offering. Ah, me! if those innocent ani- 
mals could only have been heard once more, and 
could have made their language intelligible! This 
king even twice calls Jehovah " thy God " so as to 
compel Samuel to take the compliment of believ- 



90 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

ing that he thought of him too, and expected he 
would be really pleased to know he had returned in 
such a good frame of mind. 

Alas! this was not the first time, and it has not 
been the last, that human perversity has pleaded a 
religious motive for the vilest of sins. We have no 
reason to believe that Saul was overcome by an im- 
pulse of extraordinary devotion so as to forget the 
commands which had been laid upon him. Those 
flocks and herds were valuable; and Agfaof had been 
a formidable foe in the field. We presume that the 
young monarch wished to enjoy the wealth he had 
captured, and he wished the fame of dragging a 
conquered king at the back of his chariot: that 
was all. 

7. Now just at this point we receive a lesson 
concerning the just condemnation of sin. Samuel 
appears decorous and kind in his dealings with the 
Lord's anointed. So he does not tell him that he 
sees through all his subterfuges, and knows him to 
be utterly false and fickle. He accepts his state- 
ment of fact so far as is necessary for his argument; 
and then he assures him that, even if he did come 
home to slay his sacrifices, the Lord preferred obedi- 
ence to worship; so he was condemned: *'And 
Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in 
burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the 
voice of the Lord ? Behold, to obey is better than 
sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.'* 

Here is the one open principle on which all men 
are to be judged. It runs through the whole Bible. 

The Psalmist sings it: "I will not reprove thee 



ONE SIN TOO MANY. 9I 

for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have 
been continually before me. I will take no bul- 
lock out of thy house, nor he-goats out of thy folds: 
for every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle 
upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the 
mountains; and the wild beasts of the field are 
mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for 
the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Will I 
eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? 
Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows 
unto the Most High." 

Isaiah repeats it: ''To what purpose is the mul- 
titude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord: I 
am full of the burnt ofierings of rams and the fat of 
fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bul- 
locks or of lambs or of he-goats. When ye come 
to appear before me, who hath required this at your 
hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain ob- 
lations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new 
moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I 
cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn 
meeting. Your new moons and your appointed 
feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; 
I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread 
forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: 
yea, when ye make many prayers, I w^ill not hear: 
your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you 
clean; put away the evil of your doings from before 
mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well." 

Jeremiah reiterates it: "Hear, O earth: behold, 
I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of 
their thoughts, because they have not hearkened 



92 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. To 
what purpose cometh there to me incense from 
Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country ? your 
burnt ofiferings are not acceptable, nor your sacri- 
fices sweet unto me." 

Micah presses it also: "Wherewith shall I come 
before the Lord, and bow myself before the high 
God ? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, 
with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be 
pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thou- 
sands of rivers of oil ? shall I give my first-born for 
my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin 
of my soul ? He hath showed thee, O man, what 
is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee 
but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk 
humbly with thy God?" 

And our Lord -quotes it in the New Testament: 
"Go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have 
mercy, and not sacrifice; for I am not come to call 
the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." God will 
have obedience only: sin is an abomination to him. 

8. There is likewise here an illustration of the 
aggregating force of sin: "For rebellion is as the 
sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity 
and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word 
of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being 
king." It is hardly worth while to attempt to 
enumerate the acts of wickedness which followed 
directly upon this first dereliction of Saul: treachery, 
lying, vanity, covetousness, hypocrisy, — these were 
among them. This king had been very zealous 
against rebellion, witchcraft, iniquity, and idolatry; 



ONE SIN TOO MANY. 93 

now the Lord tells him that his stubbornness and 
disobedience have been just as bad as anything else. 

There are degrees of depravity, no doubt; but 
all sin is bad, and tends to what is worse. Some- 
times we notice the workmen lift a great iron door 
in the pavement of the street; away down in the 
dark we discern a flight of stairs. The steps of sin 
are like those which run from the sidewalk to the 
sewer, down, always down; there is never so much 
as one of them that leads up to the plain level on 
which Christians ought to walk. 

9. Still another lesson meets us here, and now it 
is concerning the inevitable result of sin: "And 
Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have 
transgressed the commandment of the Lord and 
thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed 
their voice. Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my 
sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship 
the Lord. And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not 
return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of 
the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from 
being king over Israel." 

Saul had reached the limit of divine forbear- 
ance. Indeed, he had already committed one sin 
too many. It was of no use for him to plead for 
pardon any more. There is something very strange 
in the subsequent career of this monarch; he seems 
bewildered and off his balance. Sometimes he 
prays, and then he consults the witch of Endor; 
sometimes he is superstitiously devout, and then he 
becomes blasphemous. He grows insane, then tries 
to murder David; at the last commits the final sin, 



94 FROM SAMUEI. TO SOLOMON. 

from wliicli there is no retreat. He disappears in 
the wild gleam of battle, dying by suicide. 

All sin left to itself is hopeless. The kingdom 
was taken from this man so that he should not in- 
jure any one else any more. Even heathen people 
know that is just. When we were at school we 
used to declaim this sentence from Demosthenes' 
oration: "It is not possible, O Athenians! that a 
power should be permanent which is marked with 
injustice, perjury, and falsehood." 

Every sin registers itself upon the line of associ- 
ation it belongs with. Iniquities are gregarious; 
they come in files silent and single, but they in- 
stantly affiliate themselves in dangerous herds. 
*'And being let go, they went to their own com- 
pany." The instinct that a wickedness has is 
almost like that of a living thing; it puts itself 
alongside of something like itself, and then grows 
swiftly organic and forceful for retribution. Noth- 
ing is ever lost, nothing forgotten. 

Hence, finally, sin becomes massed and destruct- 
ive. It is an Arab saying that we so often quote: 
*' The last straw breaks the camel's back." No: it 
is the whole load that kills the camel, but it is the 
last straw which makes the load complete and in- 
tolerable. When the fall of the beast comes, all 
the burden tells. A time arrives at the last when 
just one more little act of rebellion against God dis- 
charges all the violence of divine wrath in an abso- 
lute reprobation. "He that being often reproved 
hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, 
and that without remedv." 



god's estimate of human AVAII.ABI1JTY. 95 



X. 



GOD'S ESTIMATE OF HUMAN AVAIIv- 
ABILITY. 

" But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his coun- 
tenance, OR on the height of his stature; because I 
HAVE refused HIM. — I JSatn. 16 : 7. 

This enunication of one fixed principle in the 
divine o^overnment is of immense value as havine 
a practical bearing upon all the mighty relations 
which each man sustains to his Maker. The nar- 
rative, in the midst of which the verse occurs, not 
only states it clearly, but shows it at work. We 
cannot fail to find profit, therefore, if we give such a 
passage our study in detail as an illustration of the 
Lord's dealing with a human soul in the precise 
moment when he was summoning it forth into 
activity and responsibility in the fulfilment of his 
purposes. 

The tale of David's anointing by Samuel throws 
into luminous exhibition the way in which God 
searches and registers men; and it likewise informs 
us, once for all, what he accepts and what he re- 
jects, in making up his estimates of their character 
and their availability. 

In this procession of Jesse's sons Eliab came 
earliest: the head of their line, the pride of their 
household, the first-born of them in the tribal pedi- 
gree. Evidently Samuel was pleased and expect- 



96 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

• 

ant, the moment he looked npon his vast proportions 
and his commanding mien; he exclaimed with en- 
thusiasm, *' Surely the Lord's anointed is before 
Him!" 

*'But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on 
his countenance, or on the height of his stature; be- 
cause I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as 
man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appear- 
ance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. Then 
Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before 
Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the Lord 
chosen this. Then Jesse made Shammah to pass 
by. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen 
this. And Jesse made seven of his sons to pass be- 
fore Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The 
Lord hath not chosen these. And Samuel said 
unto Jesse, Are here all thy children ? And he 
said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, be- 
hold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said 
unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit 
down till he come hither. And he sent, and brought 
him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beau- 
tiful countenance, and goodly to look upon. And 
the Lord said. Arise, anoint him: for this is he. 
Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed 
him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of 
the Lord came mightily upon David from that day 
forward." 

I. Let us try to analyze the statement on the 
negative side, to begin with. The Lord does pot 
look upon the outward appearance in fixing his 
judgment of any human soul. It so happens that 



god's estimate of human availability. 97 

this very narrative actually specifies many of those 
particulars which men are wont to regard as high- 
est in value. 

I. For example, the Lord does not look -upon 
one's social rank. Samuel is sent to a village farm 
to choose a successor to King Saul. Bethlehem 
was a poor little insignificant town: a great prophet 
said of it, even many years after this, that it was 
"little among the thousands of Judah. " The 
family of Jesse had no conspicuousness or remark- 
ableness, as the world reckons. 

Moreover, David was the one that made it royal, 
and when he was chosen he was by no means the 
head of it. It is worthy of our attention that the 
Bible makes such very short and sharp work with 
primogeniture as a condition of selection in exalted 
leadership. It would seem as if it had been settled 
that the first-born sons should be superseded. Isaac 
before Ishmael, Jacob before Esau, Joseph before 
Reuben, and here David before Eliab, so the in- 
spired history runs on. It may be that this is de- 
signed to assert in Old Testament fact what is sub- 
sequently proclaimed in New Testament doctrine: 
"You see your calling, brethren, how that not 
many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, 
not many noble, are called." Good Lady Huntinof- 
don used to say she thanked God for the letter M, 
for he did not tell Paul to say " not any," but " not 
many." 

Now it is certainly true that the best part of the 
world's highest worth has risen from what would 
by some be called its lowest sources. It is usual to 

From Samuel to Solomou. r 



98 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

sneer at tlie plebeian birth of Oliver Cromwell as 
well as that of Napoleon Bonaparte; but this had 
nothing to do with any vices they displayed or any 
virtues they possessed. These men were kings of 
other men by reason of a manhood which Charles 
the First never got from the contemptible Stuarts, 
nor Louis the Sixteenth from the more contempti- 
ble Bourbons. The pride of rank is prone to run 
into an extreme of superciliousness, of self-seeking, 
and of oppression. Cornelius Agrippa actually in- 
stitutes an argument to prove that there was " never 
a nobility which had not a wicked beginning." 
Now it is not of any profit nor of any necessity that 
we should be harsh* it is enough for our present 
purpose to claim that God is not in any case a re- 
specter of persons; "but, in every nation, he that 
feareth him and worketh righteousness is," as says 
the fisherman Peter, ''accepted with him." 

2. Furthermore, the Lord does not look upon 
one's family history. The lineage of Jesse, Obed, 
and Ruth was quite humble in its origin; the house- 
hold stock had worth of piety in it, but there is no 
evidence that David owed his elevation to anything 
that had been done for him before he was born. 
His mother is not even mentioned by name in the 
Scriptures. 

It is pitifully mean and conceited for any one to 
set himself up as meritorious because his family 
once had a hero among its members. When we 
were learning to write at school, one of the copies 
that ran along the top of two pages standing opposite 
was made up of this now worn and familiar couplet: 



god's estimate of human availability. 99 

"Honor and worth from no condition rise: 
Act well your part ; there all the honor lies." 

Four times in one chapter of ancient prophecy we 
are told by the Lord himself that when a land should 
be visited with pestilence, the most eminent merits 
of one's ancestors should not avail to save a wicked 
person from peril: "Though Noah, Daniel, and 
Job were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they 
shall deliver neither son nor daus^hter." 

3. Again: the Lord does not look upon one's 
fortune. If any one supposes that the wealth of 
the "rich kinsman" Boaz had come down by in- 
heritance into this family estate, we are surely with- 
out hint that the property had anything to do wuth 
the lot of the shepherd-boy David. He was not 
anointed king because of his father's possessions. 
It would not be fair to assert that God always 
chooses the poor before the rich, but he certainly 
does not choose the rich for their riches in any 
case. 

In divine providence, so far as it can be read in 
history, there appears to be preserved a calm indif- 
ference to any recommendation that might be sug- 
gested, even if not pressed, by the fact that an in- 
dividual belonged to what was called "the moneyed 
aristocracy" of his times. It is not necessary for 
any Christian to grow cynical. Old father Jerome 
left on record in his terse Latin this saying: "Every 
opulent man is either an iniquitous man or the heir 
of an iniquitous man who went before him." This 
saying was quoted, actually with enthusiasm, by the 
pulpit-orator Bourdaloue in his famous discourse on 



lOO FROM SAMUEI. TO SOLOMON. 

riches, wherein he improved the opportunity to as- 
sert, after replying to some objections and guard- 
ing against some possible perversions, that his mind 
also had come to the same conclusion. Such lan- 
guage seems ill-advised, and has to be pronounced 
extreme. For Abraham was rich, and Job was 
rich, and the Lord made him richer, and Nicodemus 
was rich, and Joseph of Arimathsea was rich; and 
if these men were therefore iniquitous, or sons de- 
scended from iniquitous fathers, it would be hard 
to find any just man even in the splendid biogra- 
phies of Old and New Testament worthies. 

As things turn out in modern times, we feel 
surer that religious hopefulness lies somewhere near 
the golden mean of moderation and competence. 
Wit does not always go with wealth either, as a 
matter of commonplace observation. That is a 
wise remark of Plutarch, as he contrasts two of his 
characters: "The poverty of Aristides was more 
noble than the wealth of Midas.'' In the presence 
of some of the hard and grasping men who wield 
the colossal fortunes of the present day, it is salu- 
tary sometimes to quote the words of inspiration as 
the rule: " Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not 
God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and 
heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to 
them that love him ?" 

4. Nor does the Lord look upon one's appear- 
ance. Hardly would it seem necessary to press this 
point, if it were not awkwardly true that vanity is 
sometimes discoverable even in aged men and wo- 
men. In the story we are studying there is, in all 



god's ESTIMATK of human AVAII.ABIUTY. lOI 

likelihood, an allusion to the ridiculous enthusiasm 
which the Israelites had previously manifested when 
Saul was elected king: they fairly shouted with ad- 
miration because he w^as so tall and comely. A 
man is not always great because he is big. 

It is interesting to notice that in the margin of 
our English Bibles the words in the seventh verse of 
this chapter, "the outward appearance," are ren- 
dered more literally " the eyes;" and also the words 
in the twelfth verse, "a beautiful countenance," 
are rendered ' ' fair of eyes. ' ' That is to say, David 
is not chosen for his good looks, nor is Eliab rejected 
because of his; they may both have had fine eyes, 
but the Lord does not regard such things in his 
selection of men for high service of himself. John 
Milton was blind, and Thomas Carlyle was not con- 
sidered attractive in showy company. Plato tells 
us that Socrates resembled one of those misshapen 
pictures of apes and owls painted on the outside of 
an apothecary's gallipot; but he adds that although 
the figures were grotesque, the vessel was truly 
filled with sweet balsams. Paul was diminutive 
and half blind, in bodily presence weak and in 
speech contemptible; "but," says Chrysostom, 
"this man of three cubits' height became tall 
enough to touch the third heaven." 

5. Once more : the Lord does not look upon 
one's age in making his choice of men. He some- 
times selects children, and then trains them at his 
will. In the absence of any information on this 
point, some commentators have seemed to think, 
from calculation of dates, that David must at this 



I02 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

time have been about sixteeu or seventeen years 
old. At any rate, he was the youngest of that laro-e 
family, a mere boy out in the field tending the 
sheep of his father, and held in such small consider- 
ation as that Jesse had to be questioned about send- 
ino^ for him. 

These repeated instances of passing by the elder 
and more mature members of a household for the 
sake of those in the very morning of youth must 
have in them a lesson as to the hopefulness of caring 
for the children in our own homes. Polycarp was 
converted at nine years of age, Matthew Henry at 
eleven. President Edwards at seven, Robert Hall at 
twelve, and Isaac Watts at nine. God chooses his 
best workers often in the beginning of their intelli- 
gent existence; they that seek him early are sure to 
find him. It does not require the wisdom of Lord 
Bacon to discover such a thing, but the aphorism 
gains authority from his having put it forth: " For 
the moral part, youth will have the preeminence, as 
age hath for the politic." It is less difiicult for one 
to become a true and patient follower of Christ be- 
fore the world's policies come in to warp the ingen- 
uous soul. 

II. But it is hig^h time for us to turn to the 
positive side of the statement concerning the divine 
choice of men. The Lord does not look upon the 
outward appearance : what does he look upon? 
What is meant here by the word "heart"? " The 
Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on 
the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on 
the heart." 



god's estimate oe human avaii^ability. 103 

It is not necessary that we try to be abstruse and 
philosophical in giving an interpretation to this 
familiar word "heart." The entire nature of the 
individual is brought into view. Our Maker does 
not intimate a mere curiosity in his search of char- 
acter; he looks for actual availability. There was a 
work far on ahead for this young David's life; 
whether he was the one for this was the purpose of 
the inquiries in this instance. God does not look 
upon the surroundings a man shows when he wears 
a robe of wealth or station; he looks upon what the 
robe is thrown around. That is to say, he looks 
upon the soul itself; each choice of his divine wis- 
dom turns upon the man's wishes and motives in the 
innermost recesses of his soul — his genuineness, his 
character. 

We shall have to take up the remainder of the 
verse for study again ; this is enough for our need 
just now. In a sober review of what has already 
been said, it seems as if there might be wisdom in 
picturing our own lives for a little while, in holding 
them out before careful and discriminating analysis. 
Then we can put some fair questions. 

For example, this: Do we hope for God* s favor on 
the ground of a lo7tg line of personal recommendations f 
It is hardly probable that our candor would be suffi- 
cient to meet such an inquiry plainly, if it were put 
in so bald and uncompromising a form. But some 
there are who conceive of their advantages as far 
higher than those of others, although many men 
with whom they compare themselves are on much 
superior elevations both in experience and in com- 



104 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

iiiunion with God. There is a general supercilious- 
ness of soul out in the air nowadays, a kind of as- 
sumption of high-bred nearness to holiness and 
artistic piety, a knowledge of what is proper " form " 
in religion and fashionable decorum in ordinary 
worship, as well as what is saintly in demeanor and 
in contributions to charity. Really, are Christians 
trying to mock God genteelly ? 

Then again: this subject leads us to inquire 
whether our personal salvation is to be settled by 
what the world ai'oitnd us tJiiiiks about our shoivy piety ^ 
or by what the Lord Jiiviself thinks. There is an out- 
ward sanctimoniousness which looks very like sanc- 
tity: will it all end the same way? Krummacher, 
the German author, relates that he was once invited 
to a banquet given in honor of Goethe, at which all 
the mighty leaders of the continent had been gath- 
ered. The young writer was ambitious of making 
acquaintances in such a throng of celebrities. 
Watching his chance, he spoke to Thorwaldsen, the 
great Danish sculptor, at that moment standing on 
the height of his fame. He was met by the artist 
with a question, sharp and sudden, as if he had 
grown select in a fastidious choice of his compan- 
ionships in such a company of foreigners: *' Are you 
an artist?" The author of the " Life of Elijah the 
Tishbite," with due modesty, replied, *'No; I am 
a preacher." The proud stonecutter straightened 
himself up as he cried out loud enough to be heard 
in the entire room, " Oh, how can it be possible 
that you should be only a theologian?" The 
youthful student was abashed; but he has recorded 



god's estimate of human AVAII.ABILITY. I05 

in his note-book of that date that he could not help 
even then reflecting on the fact that this self-satis- 
fied sculptor had spent months on just fashioning 
the splendid statue of Christ which had made the 
world wonder, but evidently had a most inadequate 
notion of Christ himself So he says quaintly, 
'' From this moment I drew the conclusion that an 
enthusiastic admiration for Jesus, our Lord, is some- 
thing very different from saving faith in him, reach- 
ing the heart and controlling the life." 

Finally, in view of this subject, there would fol- 
low this question: Hoiv much of what woiddlings prize 
will vanish wJien the Lord makes hiown his register of 
actual worth? Just lately you have noted in the 
missionary newspapers that the Maharajah of Tra- 
vancore, in India, has at last prepared to revive the 
time-honored custom of his fathers, and is s^oinor to 
present the ceremony of " thooloparum." This is 
an old heathen performance, and consists in placing 
a living man upon one scale of a large balance, and 
then loading down the other scale with a splendid 
heap of pure gold: afterward the money is distribu- 
ted among the attendant Brahmins according to 
each one's grade or station. Thus his Royal High- 
ness is declared to be sanctified: and, best of all, 
thus those happy Brahmins are expected to shout 
aloud through the empire that for all time he is to 
be reckoned as worth his weisrht in gfold to the In- 

o o 

dian people. Now when we know, as we do, that 
the great God above, whom we worship as Chris- 
tians, does not look on such things, but on the inner 
heart of the man who loves him and loves his fel- 

5* 



Io6 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

low-man, what can any of us find really to admire 
in this ceremony of " thooloparum " ? 

Calmly does that eye of God keep gazing down 
upon men: it registers us all justly; and that esti- 
mate will stand for ever undisturbed. 

" Life is the plaj^thing of fortune, a medley of joy and sorrow : 
Lightly she tosses it up, lightly she tumbles it down : 
High in the heavens to-day, it is low in the dust to-morrow : 
Lightly she tosses it up, lightly she tumbles it down." 

Calmly also does the Word of God utter its own 
counsel, whether the restless race of men will be 
content to listen or not: 

*'Love not the world, neither the things that 
are in the world. If any man love the world, the 
love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in 
the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the 
eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is 
of the world. And the world passeth away, and the 
lust thereof : but he that doeth the will of God 
abideth for ever. ' ' 



god's estimate oe human character. 107 



XL 



GOD'S ESTIMATE OF HUMAN CHAR- 
ACTER. 

"The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on 

THE outward appearance, BUT THE LORD LOOKETH ON THE 

HEART." — I Sam. 16:7. 

We must consider this historic transaction as 
something more than the mere expression of a pref- 
erence. The Almighty is selecting a successor to 
King Saul in the government of his people: one of 
the mightiest of all his decrees is rushing forward 
into exercise. So here can be found the revelation 
of a permanent and wide-reaching principle. 

I. Observe, in the first place, that God's purpose 
claims a specific direction: the **Lord looketh on 
the heart." What does this mean? 

David's own understanding of the examination 
through which he in company with his brothers 
passed in this instance comes to view afterward in 
the rehearsal of one of his historic Psalms for the 
temple use: *'The Lord shall judge the people: 
judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, 
and according to mine integrity that is in me. Oh, 
let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; 
but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth 
the hearts and reins. My defence is of God, which 
saveth the upright in heart." 

The chief of all the words he here employs is 
'* integrity:" this he accepts cordially for himself 



Io8 FROM SAMUP:L to SOLOMON. 

and repeats with equal candor for the aid of others. 
He remembers that the Lord judged him for his in- 
tegrity in the beginning, and he prays that he may 
be worthy to be so judged even to the end. Now 
we know that the word "integrity '^ is derived from 
the Latin integer ; and the meaning of integer is 
"whole ;" and wholeness is our old strong Saxon 
for holiness. That is to say, what God means by 
stating that he looks upon, not the outside of a man, 
but his " heart," is, that he considers the wholeness 
of one's nature, and desires it to become holiness. 
He looks at each man through and through, and 
registers him by his soundness, his genuineness, his 
entire character. 

2. Observe, also, that God's purpose erects a fixed 
standard. A man's "heart," as thus understood in 
the religious sense and as worthy of the divine re- 
gard, depends upon the thoroughness with which 
the man adjusts each exertion of his will to the 
divine will. That is to say, God's heart is the test 
of man's heart, God's wish, God's plan, God's pur- 
pose—in a single word, God's law — showing the 
perfect standard. 

Here comes out, somewhat unexpectedly, but in 
a most interesting way, what is the true interpreta- 
tion of that remarkable declaration about this man 
David which has given many people so much 
trouble. You recollect that in the earlier history 
God announced that he had already sought for him- 
self " a man after his own heart ; " and then, more 
than eleven hundred years subsequent to this, the 
apostle Paul declared, in one of his speeches, that 



god's estimate of human character. 109 

this person was David. Now we are compelled to 
dwell carefully upon the explanation which the 
All-wise One oflfered instantly, in order that men 
might understand his exact meaning. Just because 
of Israel's wilfulness, he permitted the nation to 
choose Saul for their monarch; but he soon removed 
him for his sin, and " raised up unto them David to 
be their king: to whom also he gave testimony, and 
said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man 
after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my 
will." This final clause of the verse is what ex- 
plains all the mystery: David was "a man after 
God's own heart," not because of any supreme ho- 
liness of his moral and religious attainments, but 
because of his fitness for fulfilling the lyord's will — 
his availability for the Lord's purpose. 

If any one supposes that this shepherd-boy is in 
these words asserted to be, either in his youth, when 
Samuel pours the anointing oil upon his head, or in 
after years, while he is the crowned king in Jerusa- 
lem and the sweet singer of Israel, a perfect man — 
so excellent in manners or so supreme in piety that 
he had at last, through the disciplines of his turbu- 
lent career, reached all that even the heart of God 
could wish — he will surely be stumbled frightfully 
at some cruel recollections of David's mortifying 
weaknesses and terrible crimes, those awful and un- 
disputed faults which led to the abasing penitences 
of the fifty-first Psalm. But if we understand that 
this son of Jesse was in these points human like the 
rest of us, and, in the sovereignty of divine wisdom, 
was chosen for what he was, simply to do the Lord's 



no FRO:.I Sx\MUEL TO SOLOMON. 

will, tlien we shall get a most valuable lesson for 
ourselves, and the difficulties of our exposition will 
disappear. It is the divine purpose in every case 
which fixes the final standard of judgment; and by 
this every human heart is to be tested as well as 
swayed. Whenever God is in his Word declared to 
look on a man's heart, the meaning is that he now 
is searching whether that heart is fully set to do his 
whole will. 

3. Then observe, in the third place, that God's 
purpose starts a permanent revolution in a human 
character. The most interesting verse in this nar- 
rative, as well as the most valuable, is that which 
announces how " the Spirit of the Lord came upon 
David from that day forward." 

It is wonderful to think of these chanores now 
wrought upon this anointed stripling. He was the 
uncrowned king of Israel from the hour of Samuel's 
sudden visitation. It fairly arrests our imagination 
when we see the hitherto inconspicuous life of this 
shepherd-boy begin rapidly to advance into promi- 
nence; it is lifted into honor, exalted into strength, 
trained into majesty. He is instantly put into pro- 
cesses of discipline so as to be ready for his new 
destiny when his hour should arrive. Henceforth 
he is to be the shepherd of Israel; so he continues to 
manage his father's flocks a while longer, in order 
that he may learn the shepherd's duty. Henceforth 
he is to be the sweet singer of Israel; so he lingers 
out under Bethlehem sunsets and Syrian stars, in 
order that he may seek poetic images a while longer 
for some additional Psalms. Henceforth he is to be 



god's estimate of human character. Ill 

the monarch of Israel; so he is led a while longer 
among fierce outlaw experiences, consorting with the 
oppressed and the poor, in order that he may learn 
to understand his own subjects before he has hold of 
the sceptre by which he is to rule them wisely. And 
during this entire period this crownless king is has- 
tening unconsciously forward in the lines of God's 
unfaltering purpose. 

This is the interpretation of those passages which 
make allusion to his early career as a lad tending 
the sheepfold. The almighty Hand was guiding 
and moulding him; God's gentleness, as he grate- 
fully takes pains to acknowledge, was making him 
great. And this is the secret of Asaph's eloquence, 
as he tells the story of the same educational years: 
^'He chose David also his servant, and took him 
from the sheepfolds: from following the ewes great 
w^ith young he brought him to feed Jacob his people 
and Israel his inheritance. So he fed them accord- 
ing to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by 
the skilfulness of his hands. '^ 

As we leave the detailed study of this incident, 
it might as well be urged earnestly that w^e should 
not exhaust the teachings of it upon the one man 
David as a mere historic hero: he is a representa- 
tive king among kings, to be sure; but he is a rep- 
resentative man also among men of all ages. The 
principle which appears is of universal application. 
Hence the question that we must raise here at the 
close of the sermon is this: When the Lord leaves 
the outside show, which our pride pushes forward 
into notice, and looks down into the inner recesses 



112 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

of our own hearts, which we sometimes try to con- 
ceal, what does he actually see ? 

There is much that is full of suggestion in this 
conception of a fixed estimate of each one of us, 
just and conclusive, yet mysterious, and often quite 
out of our reach; how can we deal with it as a tre- 
mendous fact ? In modern times, when village 
merchants come to the cities to purchase goods, 
asking for some easy credit on their bills, they 
usually are met with the calm reply that they will 
have to wait for the customary consultation of the 
firm just for a few moments or hours before they may 
expect a final decision. It has grown to be under- 
stood in our commercial communities that the 
great dealers are using such a delay, not altogether 
in talking to each other, but in searching pages and 
columns of what is called a Mercantile Agency for 
the exact standing of the would-be purchaser. The 
register of all possible customers is kept, filled with 
items of information, compiled quite independently, 
gathered from different tracts of the whole broad 
land, and covering the business career of each in- 
dividual. By these particulars the man's genuine- 
ness and responsibility are tested, and thus the ques- 
tion is decided as to whether he is what the tradinor 
world calls "good " or not. The grade of his credit 
is fixed altogether distinct from his open professions 
or wishes, and uninfluenced by anything he himself 
may have to offer or may seek to urge. His name 
is on a list that has in the course of painstaking 
years been canvassed and settled before even his 
arrival in town. Hence, as the messenger returns 



god's estimate of human character. 113 

and he receives his answer, he knows that it will 
not avail to wait any further or to plead any more. 
For his financial position is established, for better 
or worse, in the entire city. There remains this 
mysterious scrutiny, as well as this authoritative 
estimate, made up from a thorough investigation of 
his former history and his present circumstances. 
That is to say, he has been graded justly and ab- 
solutely for what he is worth. 

So familiar has this method of registering men 
become now that a mere reference to it in illustra- 
tion sufiices to exhibit the whole admonition con- 
tained in the verse we have been studying. The 
Creator of this universe knows all the intricacies of 
its movement. He keeps the accurate account of 
each human character and standing as judged by 
his holy law. His estimate of every person in turn 
is made upon a private and exhaustive acquaintance 
with his intent, temper, spirit, and life. The Un- 
seen One is the All-seeing One. He does not look 
on the outward appearance at all, save as one of his 
ways of knowing the man's heart. 

This leads to another question: What is the use 
of wasting years of weary life in just trying to keep 
up appearances before men and women and before 
God ? Oh, how full this old world is of those who 
spend their time and energy in fashioning parades 
of unreality and hypocrisy and emptiness, not one 
of which is looked on by God, not one of which is 
respected by men! And this, too, to the neglect of 
the heart, upon which are grounded the decisions 
of present favor and future destiny ! 

From Samuel to Solomon. 



114 FROM SAMUEI. TO SOI.OMON. 

It makes us think of the child's story about the 
two boys in the street, who fought a battle blue and 
bloody over a shining ball which they chanced upon 
lying in the roadway, and which each claimed as 
his own. Yellow and beautiful the bauble seemed; 
silk covered its surface with gloss, the image of a 
crown w^as on either side of it. "Why," exclaimed 
one of them, and then the other, " it must be a cas- 
ket containing the king's seal or some of the queen's 
jewels!" And so the foolish creatures fought like 
beasts over the possession of it. By-and-by a third 
lad, stronger than either of them, appeared on the 
scene, quietly picking up the trophy and making 
off with it for himself. So now a parley became 
necessary, and they reached an agreement to divide 
the treasure. With eager eyes they watched him 
when he unwound the silken threads which seemed 
actually without end: at last he came down in the 
middle to a poor little spool, a used-up spool of silk 
which after an anxious .moment was soon to be not 
even that, but a bobbin, stubbed and uncomely, 
blackened by the oil of the loom. And the crown 
on the ends was but a patent-mark. The remnants 
of floss lay trampled in the dust; the small stick 
was worthless; nothing came out of it at all; the 
fight had been to no profit; the hands were weary; 
the heads were very sore. 

What disappointments at the day of final reckon- 
inof there will be for men and women who have 
fought for a title, a star, or a ribbon, in the vain 
hope of being looked upon because of it! What dis- 
closures of folly, what revelations of surprise! How 



cod's estimate of human character. 115 

ignoble tlieir aims, how empty their achievements, 
how absurd their ambitions, how fierce their rival- 
ries, how useless their victories, how unimportant 
even their worst defeats! 

And finally, we ask, how is it with us in this 
o-rand ao-e of the Lord's mastery of men ? How is 
it with God's princes, anointed already for service 
of the living Christ — "kings and priests unto God 
and his Father" — but as yet unordained priests and 
kincrs still uncrowned? It is remarkable to note 
that, in all the subsequent history of David, he 
never alluded to this consecration of himself by the 
prophet. He never so much as once fell back upon 
his official selection for the royal place; whatever 
impression it made upon his life was quietly con- 
cealed in his own soul, and he went on trusting 
God. So we are not surprised to hear him singing 
in his Psalm : ' ' The secret of the Lord is with them 
that fear him, and he will show them his cove- 
nant." When afterward he was brought into the 
presence of the delirious Saul, and was asked who 
he was, he answered only with the simplicity of a 
child, " I am the son of thy servant Jesse, the Beth- 
lehemite." That was all he had to say. 

The call of God does not confer on any one the 
privilege of pride or the indulgence of haughtiness; 
it calls a servant to service, and kingship comes 
further on. It only makes a true soul more knightly 
and more humble to know that he has been sum- 
moned in secret into the grand purposes of God. 

And then during all the time of waiting and 
preparation what is a good and chivalrous man to 



Il6 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

do? Perhaps one of the best answers must be 
looked for in the fine words of Jesus, the son of Si- 
rach, whom some suppose to have been inspired: 
" Beware of a counsellor, and know before what 
need he hath; for he will counsel for himself; lest 
he cast the lot upon thee, and say unto thee. Thy 
way is good: and afterward he stand on the other 
side, to see what shall befall thee. Consult not 
with one that suspecteth thee: and hide thy counsel 
from such as envy thee. Neither consult with a 
woman touching her of whom she is jealous; nei- 
ther with a coward in matters of war; nor with a 
merchant concerning exchange; nor with a buyer 
of selling; nor with an envious man of thank- 
fulness; nor with an unmerciful man touching kind- 
ness; nor with the slothful for any work; nor with 
a hireling for a year of finishing work; nor wath an 
idle servant of much business: hearken not unto 
these in any matter of counsel. But be continually 
with a godly man, whom thou knowest to keep the 
commandments of the Lord, whose mind is accord- 
ing to thy mind, and will sorrow with thee if thou 
shalt miscarry. And let the counsel of thine own 
heart stand: for there is no man more faithful unto 
thee than it. For a man's mind is sometime wont 
to tell him more than seven watchmen, that sit 
above in a high tower. And above all this pray to 
the Most High, that he will direct thy way in 
truth." 



DAVID AND GOLIATH. II 7 



XII. 



DAVID AND GOIvIATH. 

"And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth 

NOT with sword AND SPEAR: FOR THE BATTLE IS THE LoRD'S, 

and he will givic you INTO OUR HANDS." — I Sam. 17:47. 

Thls chapter upon the study of which we now 
enter ushers us at once into the midst of one of the 
most romantic tales of the Old Testament. Our 
childhood received it at the hands of pious mothers 
before our years were even mature enough to accept 
teachers outside of family circles. When we were 
boys, no story bore so many repetitions as this of the 
stripling and the giant; none ever sent the blood into 
our eyes and the spirit of war into our hearts as did 
this. It is on authentic record that one lad in a 
Sunday-school, when asked who it was he hoped 
to see as his first sight in heaven, chivalrously re- 
plied, "Goliath!" 

John Bunyan recorded that in the Palace Beau- 
tiful w^ere laid up among those "engines" enthu- 
siastically shown to the pilgrims the sling and the 
stone with which David killed the giant of Gath. 
Hannah More, openly opposing the theatre with 
ordinary plays, constructed a spirited drama out of 
the grand battle scene there in the plain of Klah. 
It would be useless to rehearse the details of the 
picturesque narrative. Every child knows them ; 
every child of mature years has told them over and 
over again to his growing household: for the whole 



Il8 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

world loves the tale of the boy who dared the chief- 
tain ill the name of the living God. 

Of course the field is fairly covered with legends. 
But not an instance can be quoted in which the 
simple inspired rehearsal receives any help. The 
Mohammedans say that as David passed over the 
brook, or the "valley," as the margin of our Bibles 
renders it, three stones, one at a time, cried out to 
him, " Pick me up and take me with thee!" This 
he did; and it turned out that the first was the one 
wherewith Abraham had driven Satan away, when 
he had sought to keep him from offering up Isaac; 
and the second was that upon which the foot of the 
angel Gabriel rested when he opened the fountain 
in the desert for Hagar and Ishmael; and the third 
was that with which Jacob strove against the evil 
spirit whom his brother Esau had sent to destroy 
him in the old quarrel. 

Then there is a new tradition, Mohammedan too, 
which declares as to the general result, that as David 
let go his sling the wind started to blow; this caught 
the helmet of Goliath, lifting it up into the air above 
his head, so that the stone struck him square upon 
the forehead, sinking in, and actually crushing his 
skull and strewing his brains over the horse he rode; 
thus the giant fell out of the saddle and died. Then 
David placed the second stone in his sling; and, 
casting it skilfully, it smote the right wing of the 
Philistine army; then he cast again, and the third 
stone smote the left wing and routed the host. 

There is no good in such tales. In the apocry- 
phal book Ecclesiasticus, which used to be bound 



DAVID AND GOLIATH. II9 

up in our common Bibles as almost an integral part 
of it, there is an exquisite description of David, 
worth quoting for the poetry in it and for the bright 
picture it brings us: 

As is the fat taken away from the peace offering, so was 
David chosen out of the children of Israel. 

He played with lions as with kids, and with bears as with 
lambs. 

Slew he not a giant, when he was yet but young ? and did he 
not take away reproach from the people, when he lifted up his 
hand with the stone in the sling, and beat down the boasting of 
Goliath ? 

For he called upon the most high Lord ; and he gave him 
strength in his right hand to slay that mighty warrior, and set up 
the horn of his people. 

So the people honored him with ten thousands, and praised 
him in the blessings of the Lord, in that he gave him a crown of 
glory. 

For he destroyed the enemies on every side, and brought to 
naught the Philistines his adversaries, and brake their horn in 
sunder unto this day. 

In all his works he praised the Holy One most high with 
words of glory ; with his whole heart he sung songs, and loved 
him that made him. 

He set singers also before the altar, that by their voices they 
might make sweet melody, and daily sing praises in their songs. 

He beautified their feasts, and set in order the solemn times 
until the end, that they might praise his holy name, and that the 
temple might sound from morning. 

The Lord took away his sins, and exalted his horn for ever: 
he gave him a covenant of kings, and the throne of glory in 
Israel. 

In almost every verse of the story which now 
comes under our study there may be found at least 
one homiletic lesson. It would be easy to group 
them together as usual into a plan with an orderly 
and logical connection. But perhaps in this instance 



I-O FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

they will fall with eqiuil force if we follow closely 
the' exact progress of the narrative. The moment 
the words are read the instruction will be seen. 

I. Helps may sometimes be so multiplied as to 
become hindrances: ^' And Saul armed David with 
his armor, and he put a helmet of brass upon his 
head; also he armed him with a coat of mail." Never 
was a higher honor bestowed upon a shepherd-boy 
than this, when his king armed him with his armor, 
or, as the margin reads, clothed him with his own 
clothes. But no one needs now to exhaust his entire 
svmpathy upon this overweighted champion. We 
mioht as well reserve a measure of our pity for the 
modern Davids in the pulpit who imitate popular 
preachers, and in the classes who seek to reproduce 
the rare excellences of famous teachers more tall 
and more brilliant, and so fail because they stalk 
around in unnatural panoplv, and are borne down 
bv a crreatness thev cannot fill out to its full swell. 

' 2 "There is alwavs room in the divine purposes 
for proper originality in human methods: " And 
David -irded his sword upon his armor, and he as- 
saved to -o; for he had not proved it. And David 
said unto^Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have no 
proved them. And David put them off him. Paul 
the crreat apostle does indeed once say to the Corin- 
thians, -Be ve followers of me," and then an- 
nounce that he sends Timothy to tell them of his 
- ways;" but when he writes to Timothy what to do, 
he bids him not to neglect the gift that is in him, 
but stir it up. No counsel is more wise to give 
to anv winner of souls than just this: Be yourself. 



DAVID AND GOLIATH. 121 

3. The best instrument for God's service is gen- 
erally that which God has bestowed on the in- 
dividual worker: "And he took his staflf in his 
hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the 
brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he 
had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: 
and he drew near to the Philistine." David's sling 
was "in his hand:" it was within reach; it was 
what the young man was used to handling. And 
indeed, if we may judge from Israelitish history, it 
was no mean weapon. The tribe of Benjamin was 
noted for its skill and courage in the use of it. At 
one time the army had twenty-six thousand of these 
slingers; and very odd and effective they must have 
been too, for we are told that " among all this peo- 
ple there were seven hundred chosen men left- 
handed : everv one could slino^ stones at a hair 
breadth, and not miss." We are never to despise 
any instrument or tool or weapon or resource what- 
soever until at least we learn to what extent one 
who knows just how to employ it can make it ser- 
viceable for good. It is simply silly for any spir- 
itual martinet to bluster when he sees that Chris- 
tians are doing well in winning souls, and insist 
that David shall put on armor like Saul's when he 
can accomplish far more in his own w^ay as a slinger 
with his brook-stones. Let all wise men and 
women take wdiat Providence has put within their 
reach. 

Here comes again in a new history the old de- 
mand once made of Moses: "What is that in thy 
hand ? " The crook he had used with the sheep in 

6 



122 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

Horeb became the "rod'' which divided the Red 
Sea. Shamgar took his ox-goad, because he was 
accustomed to it. Samson seized the jaw-bone of 
an ass, because he found it "moist" and ready 
when he "put forth his hand." Dorcas did glori- 
ous good in Joppa with the needle her hand 
loved. ' 

4. Giant-killing is yet the chief calling of the 
church: " And the Philistine came on and drew 
near unto David; and the man that bare the shield 
went before him." 

This picture, so fine in its simplicity, is the one 
which childhood never forgets and age never dis- 
dains. The heathen "Philistine" is always com- 
ing on and drawing near to the believing " David." 
We may call the apparently mismatched combatants 
Good and Evil, Right and Wrong, Truth and Error; 
it is invariably the worst which seems colossal, and 
the better which appears insignificant. Error can 
generally find an obsequious armor-bearer; Truth 
sometimes has to stand alone with a sling. Often 
great leaders will contribute their cast-off clothing, 
but they do not offer to put their extra height into 
risk. Even brothers among the people will jibe 
the intrepid champion who finds "a cause." But 
the battle is watched from above; victory is eventu- 
ally with the stripling shepherd ; and Goliath of 
Gath falls upon his broken face, with his huge 
bulk stretched along the sand. And the lesson is 
full of counsel and cheer for chivalrous souls who 
are valiant for the truth, that they have patience, 
fight with courage, and trust God for ever: 



DAVID AND GOLIATH. 1 23 

" For the God of David still guides the pebble at his will : 
There are giants yet to kill — wrongs unshriven ; 
But the battle to the strong is not given 
While the Judge of right and wrong sits in heaven." 

5. Here seems to be a register of the real worth 
of mere *' muscular Christianity: " " And when the 
Philistine looked about and saw David, he dis- 
dained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and 
of a fair countenance." Goliath answers verv well 
to Matthew Henry's somewhat picturesque descrip- 
tion, "a stalking mountain overlaid with brass and 
iron." David is a youthful champion, slightly 
dressed, fine-looking, red-haired, with beautiful 
eyes: that is all. The athletic advantage is plainly 
on the side of the giant. We hear even now some 
preachers declaiming about "more brain, brawn, 
and bones in our clergy." A few calm words from 
Canon Charles Kingsley might well be quoted here: 
" Better would it be for anyone of you, young 
men, to be the stupidest and the ugliest of mortals, 
to be the most diseased and abject of cripples, the 
most silly, nervous, incapable personage who ever 
was a laughing-stock for the boys upon the streets, 
if only you lived, according to your powers, the life 
of the Spirit of God, than to be as perfectly gifted, 
as exquisitely organized in body and mind, as David 
himself, and not to live the life of the Spirit of God, 
the life of goodness, which is the only life fit for a 
human being wearing the human flesh and soul 
which Christ took upon him on earth, and wears 
for ever in heaven, a Man indeed in the midst of 
the throne of God."- 



124 FROM SAMUEIv TO SOLOMON. 

6. It is the weakest sort of so-called honor which 
has to assert itself in bluster: ^' And the Philistine 
said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to 
me with staves ? And the Philistine cursed David 
by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, 
Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls 
of the air and to the beasts of the field." "The 
first challenge of a duel that ever we find," says the 
shrewd Bishop Hall, " came out of the mouth of an 
uncircumcised Philistine; and whosoever imitateth 
him — nay, surpasseth him — in challenge to private 
duels, in the attempt partaketh of his uncircum- 
cision; for of all such desperate prodigals we may 
say that their heads are cut ofi" by their own sword, 
if not by their own hand." 

7. The calmness of faith is always resolute and 
self-possessed: " Then said David to the Philistine, 
Thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear 
and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name 
of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, 
whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord 
deliver thee into my hand; and I will smite thee, 
and take thy head from thee; and I will give the 
carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto 
the fowls of the air and to the wild beasts of the 
earth; that all the earth may know that there is a 
God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know 
that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for 
the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into 
our hands." 

" The battle is the Lord's; " there is a motto for 
all Christian life. John Bunyan has mentioned 



DAVID AND GOLIATH. 1 25 

some of our modern giants : giant Despair, and 
giant Grim; giant Pope, and giant Pagan. Per- 
haps we could think of a few more who have come 
nearer yet to our own experience, and might have 
been named in the history of Christiana and the 
children. There is giant Pride, and giant Profan- 
ity; giant Untruth, giant Envy, giant Appetite; all 
of these confront us and with some of them we 
have had fights. But we can stand before them 
quite calmly if only we remember we come "in 
the name of the Lord of hosts." 

8. The best defence against evil is found in a 
swift attack: "And it came to pass, when the Phi- 
listine arose and came and drew nigh to meet 
David, that David hasted and ran towards the army 
to meet the Philistine." We read with delight that 
David "hasted and ran to meet the Philistine." 
In this was found his safety. He rushed up swiftly 
towards the giant, and before the big blusterer 
could draw his sword, he received the stone crash- 
ing into his forehead. 

Does any one want to know how this young 
shepherd learned a trick so fine ? Saul raised the 
same question once. David told him that he " went 
out after" a lion and a bear, and smote him. 
There he gained his valuable experience; he mod- 
estly added that he knew that the Lord who had 
delivered him then would deliver him now, if he 
made the first onset. It is right to reason from 
every spiritual success over to new triumph. Growth 
in Christian courage is wrought out by a recollec- 
tion of what God has done for us before. 



126 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

9. There can be no providence in God's govern- 
ment that is not in some sense truly special: "And 
David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a 
stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his 
forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and 
he fell upon his face to the earth." The all-wise 
Creator has been pleased to people the universe with 
free- willed beings; an immediate interposition of a 
higher free-will is invariably necessary in times of 
unusual exigency. David never swung a sling 
with a more unhindered or more skilful sweep; but 
God guided that whirling stone with quiet sover- 
eignty through the air till it lodged under Goliath's 
helmet. Only a small opening of the face was vul- 
nerable, and the smooth pebble found it fairly in 
the middle and buried itself in the brain behind 
it. If that was not "special providence," what 

was it? 

10. The weapons of the wicked are often at the 
last turned against themselves: "So David pre- 
vailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a 
stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but 
there was no sword in the hand of David. There- 
fore David ran and stood upon the Philistine, and 
took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath 
thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head there- 
with. And when the Philistines saw their cham- 
pion was dead, they fled." Goliath brought his 
shield-bearer with him; but he himself became the 
sword-bearer for David. His head was cut off with 
his own chief weapon. 

When we search the teachings of conflict we 



DAVID AND GOLIATH. I27 

find this has almost invariably been the rule. Our 
Lord defeated Satan thrice in the use of retort. 
He turned back his antagonist's arguments and slew 
him with his own texts. 

This principle should be kept in mind. Perhaps 
the highest illustration of the truth of it is found 
in the doctrine of the resurrection of our divine 
Redeemer. "Forasmuch then as the children are 
partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself like- 
wise took part of the same; that through death 
he might destroy him that had the power of death, 
that is, the devil." Death was the chief w^eapon 
of the devil. Through this Jesus Christ destroyed 
him who had the power of death. That is why 
he is called in the hymn, "Death of death and 
hell's Destruction." 

II. The victory of faith belongs only to Jeho- 
vah, and to him is the glory. This whole wonder- 
ful story closes without a word of praise for the 
nation's champion. It cannot be found that he any- 
where ever alluded to this triumph as one of his 
exploits, nor does he ever sing about it in a Psalm. 
In the last verse of this chapter we see the picture 
of him as he stands before the haughty monarch 
Saul with the bloody head of the giant he came to 
offer to him. In wonder Saul asks him who he is. 
David does not answer, as he might, "I am the 
man already anointed, the uncrowned king of Israel 
in thy place!" He does not add one word beyond 
the sweet, modest reply, " I am the son of thy ser- 
vant Jesse, the Bethlehemite." 



1^8 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 



XIII. 
REAL FRIENDSHIP. 

"And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we 

HAVE sworn both OF US IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, SAYING, 

The Lord be between me and thee, and between my 

SEED AND THY SEED FOR EVER. AnD HE AROSE AND DEPARTED ; 

AND Jonathan went into the city."— i Sam. 20:42. 

**All faithful friends went on a pilgrimage 
years ago, and none of them have ever come back:'' 
so wrote one of the Puritan divines, whose heart was 
depressed at the time, most likely. It strikes us 
that it is possible to secure even now an affectionate 
regard from some whom we love which might be 
as bright and as true as that between David and 
Jonathan, if we understood it. 

Perhaps the best definition of friendship is that 
given by Addison: it is " a strong and habitual in- 
clination in two persons to promote the good and 
happiness of each other." Here it is intimated that 
to give, and not to seek, is its prime characteristic. 
Unselfishness is what lies at the base of it. Jona- 
than was the prince, and David could afford to re- 
ceive just now, in the sweet bright hope that his 
turn to bestow would arrive by-and-by. Indeed, we 
do not believe that friendly feeling among genuine 
men could stand benefits all on one side. Some of 
us have read of the Scotch custom of burying their 
dead under heaps of stones. Those busy Highland- 



REAL FRIENDSHIP. 1 29 

ers deem it a vast compliment to have the cairn 
slowlv risinof, as one fras^ment of rock after another 
is flung upon it. To our minds this appears crush- 
inof. It brino^s a sense of suffocation under so much 
kindness and such indescribably heavy affection 
and so vast a weight of honor. Some people press 
us down in a way somewhat like this even while we 
are living. They put us under a cairn of favors, a 
stifling monument of obligation, never to be lifted, 
almost never to be borne either. Such a mistake is 
sure in the end to break friendship; for that is ''a 
union which bespeaks reciprocated duties," and re- 
ciprocated privileges likewise. 

This being our general understanding, therefore, 
we are ready to consider some peculiar conditions 
and characteristics of a manly affection like that 
between David and Jonathan. 

I. True friendship requires some acknowledged 
basis of individual worth. The Septuagint closes 
the book of Psalms with another not included in 
our version, which it numbers as the hundred and 
fifty-first, and gives as the composition of David 
himself: 

I was small among my brethren, 

And the j^oungest in my father's house. 

I was feeding my father's sheep. 

My hand made a harp, 

And my fingers fitted a psalter>' ; 

And who shall tell it to my Lord } 

He is the Lord. He heareth. 

He sent his messenger and took me from my father's flocks^ 

And anointed me with oil of his anointing. 

My brethren were beautiful and tall, 

But the Lord was not well pleased with them. 

Fi-om Saiimel fo Solomon. fi^ 



130 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

I went out to meet the Philistine, 

And he cursed me by his idols. 

But I drew his own sword and beheaded him, 

And took away reproach from the children of Israel. 

We must go back a step in the story, and we 
shall find that the love which sprang up between 
these two young men was from the very beginning 
intelligent. Even while Saul was listening to the 
modest tale of victory over Goliath, Jonathan dis- 
cerned the grand nature of the nation's champion; 
from that hour his soul was knit to David's: '' And 
it came to pass, when he had made an end of speak- 
ing unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit 
widi the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him 
as his own soul. And Saul took him that day, 
and would let him go no more home to his father's 
house. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, 
because he loved him as his own soul." 

To be popular is very different from being be- 
loved. Frequently the multitude applaud a public 
officer, not because he is meritorious, but because 
some other multitudes have begun to applaud him 
before. It does not require the genius of La Bruy6re 
to say that men "praise the man who is praised 
more than it is their habit to praise his praiseworthy 
qualities." But genuine friendship looks at worth, 
not at reputation. 

It would be a mistake to assert that friends must 
resemble each other in forms of excellence. Often 
the liveliest interest arises between those of quite 
contrary dispositions. Only in a single thing do 
David and Jonathan seem to be positively alike; 



REAL FRIENDSHIP. I3I 

they were both deeply religious. They were there- 
fore true and honest, sincere and devout; and these 
are always great points. For wicked men cannot 
be real friends. Froissart says of Gaston de Foix, 
"In everything he was so perfect that he cannot be 
praised too much; he loved what ought to be be- 
loved, and hated what ought to be condemned; and 
he never had miscreant with him.'' 

2. True friendship demands courage and self- 
sacrifice in instant answer to the call. It seems that 
both Jonathan and David had at last become alarmed 
at the open violence of Saul. For the king was 
evidently set upon killing the young minstrel, of 
whom, since he had been so praised for slaying the 
giant, he had grown madly jealous. On one occa- 
sion David absented himself from the royal table. 
The monarch instantly missed him, inquired pet- 
tishly where he was, and threatened him with heavy 
explosions of wrath. At this point Jonathan inter- 
posed with a brave explanation which was perverted 
into an extenuation. So this drew down upon him- 
self his father's insane anger. He was just able to 
dodge a dart which was flung at him; and then he 
was peremptorily bidden to go and fetch David 
back for a swift and deadly punishment. 

When Jonathan rose up from the table there was 
more than one javelin in the air coming towards him ; 
there was the mad king's wrath shooting lances of 
fire also. Which was the most required that day, 
moral courage or physical, it would not be easy to 
decide. On the one side was his father, on the other 
his friend; but in this instance Saul was wrong, and 



13:3 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

David was abused. Jonathan chose instinctively 
for the one who was right, and so put his life in 
peril, before the whole court, for the one who was 
weakest. 

They say that when a tiger has hold of a hunter, 
and is just going to break his bones, he will turn at 
once upon the intrepid man who dares to interpose 
for rescue; he will leave his prostrate victim with a 
kindling of tenfold wrath against the fresh foe; so 
that it is considered more dangerous, in such a case, 
to try to help a comrade than to be in the paws of 
the infuriated beast. Hence old campaigners in 
jungle fights are accustomed to say to their most 
faithful associates, "One could afford to go tiger- 
huntino: with vou." Are such friends to be met on 
every corner in our unheroic times ? 

3. True friendship becomes more disinterested as 
it becomes more loving : " And Jonathan answered 
Saul his father, and said unto him. Wherefore shall 
he be slain? what hath he done? And Saul cast a 
javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew 
that it was determined of his father to slay David. 
So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and 
did eat no meat the second day of the month: for he 
was erieved for David because his father had done 
him shame." 

It is one of the most delicate touches of nature 
that we meet in the story just here: what Jonathan 
cared most for was the shame done to David. For 
he does not mention the murderous flight of the steel 
dart across the room, hurled at him by his own 
father; he is "grieved for David." 



REAL FRIENDSHIP. I33 

We must remember that Saul's son had in a 
worldly sense almost nothing to gain from the son 
of Jesse. He perfectly understood that David was 
ofoinof to succeed his father in the kincrdom; and 
that, to his own exclusion from the throne. But he 
willingly relinquished hereditary honors for the love 
he bore him. This was the taunt which his father 
was continually hurling at him: "Then Saul's an- 
ger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said 
unto him. Thou son of a perverse rebellious woman, 
do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse 
to thine own shame, and unto the shame of thy 
mother's nakedness? For as long as the son of 
Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be 
stablished, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send 
and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die." 

But Jonathan would rather have his beloved 
friend on the throne than to reign there in person, 
for his soul was knit with the soul of the son of 
Jesse, and he loved him as his own soul. 

Some few commonplace interpretations, offered 
us here by those who are familiar w^ith the customs 
of speech prevalent in the Bast, will help our minds 
in understanding the feeling between these two men. 

The expression in the first verse of this chapter 
is Oriental in two wavs, but neither makes it much 
stronger than the Western w^ays of speaking. One 
is the use of " soul," where we would use " heart" 
or even "soul" itself; and the other is in the use 
of "knit," literally "bound up with" or "bound 
up in." Their hearts had a common tie, is the 
strong English expression. Yet we use stronger 



134 FROM SAMUKJU TO SOLOMON. 

expressions for a less passion. We speak of being 
of one heart, or of one mind, of unanimity, and the 
like. The Latin cojicors^ whence comes our *' con- 
cord," is of the same class or figure. The German 
phrase "two hearts and one beat" is almost an 
equivalent expression; for it relates to passion, w^iilc 
the other expressions just mentioned relate to that 
which has become somewhat cooled by long stand- 
ing. Perhaps, in Oriental parlance, the meaning of 
the phrase, "he loved him as his own soul," is to 
be understood as in other passages in the Bible, with 
"self" substituted in English for "soul." This is 
to say that Jonathan's love grew to be so unselfish 
that it seemed to make him happier to think that 
David would be king than that he would be himself. 
Once, not long after this, he made this perfectly 
clear, when his hunted friend became quite discour- 
aged: " x\nd Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to 
David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in 
God. And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand 
of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt 
be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; 
and that also Saul my father knoweth. And they 
two made a covenant before the Lord: and David 
abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house." 
Thus he offered to the ages the most exquisite 
illustration of the proverb written long subsequent 
to these troublous times by the son of David, w^ho 
was in many things the wisest man in the world: " A 
man that hath friends must show himself friendly: 
and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a 
brother," 



REAL FRIENDSHIP. 1 35 

4. True friendship shows itself by delicate and 
sometimes mysterious signals of communication. 
Indeed, when two men become fast and sympa- 
thetic comrades, we sometimes fail to discover what 
they find in each other so companionable. 

Take this little story which follows in the chap- 
ter — that about the shooting in the field, and the boy 
who waited upon them there. Jonathan kept his 
bow in most skilful and vigorous exercise: "But 
the lad knew not anything: only Jonathan and 
David knew the matter.'' We feel interested, not 
to say amused, as we contemplate this lad on his er- 
rands for Jonathan's arrows, with no sort of suspicion 
that he is holding converse for his prince with an 
outlaw of the realm. This small incident always 
arrests our imagination; for it offers a suggestion 
concerning that oneness of soul, that unbroken trust, 
that ingenuity of address, which together prove the 
existence of genuine affection between these two men. 
It seems inexplicable; we can appreciate it without 
understanding it any more than we can understand 
the strange vibrations of a harp's strings when a flute 
is played upon close beside it; we only know that one 
true heart answers to another as the one sensitive 
instrument in the corner replies to the other in the 
room by sympathetically reproducing the same mel- 
ody over its wires. 

One explanation is found in the fact that all real 
regard is observant of careful deferences and decen- 
cies of respect: ' ' As soon as the lad was gone, David 
arose out of a place towards the south, and fell 011 
his face to the ground, and bowed himself three 



136 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

times: and tliey kissed one another, and wept one 
with another, until David exceeded." Jonathan 
had come forth into the field to find his comrade; 
but he was the king's son. David bowed himself 
three times to show he knew his place. Piety is a 
sure basis for politeness, and a pledge that it will be 
rendered. Too much familiarity breeds contempt. 
The old adage says: "Thy friend hath a friend, and 
thy friend's friend hath a friend; so be discreet." 
All these apparently small considerations, the keep- 
ing of a comrade's secrets, the preservation of his 
honor, the acknowledgment of his position, the 
gentle watchfulness for his opinions and tastes ; 
these are what show him that his friend truly and 
generously " cares for" him. 

" The man who hails you Tom or Jack, 
And proves by thumps upon your back 

How he esteems your merit, 
Is such a friend that one had need 
Be very much his friend indeed 

To pardon or to bear it." 

5. So, finally, true friendship finds its highest 
model in the Lord of life and glory. We do not 
see how any one can be a genuine comrade for a 
Christian who is not himself a Christian. It was 
Merle d'Aubigne who wrote to Pasteur Anet at 
Brussels, four years before he died: "O my friend, 
may the true divinity of the Son, the power of his 
expiatory death, be ever the pillars of our faith and 
the foundation on which rests the indestructible af- 
fection that unites us!" 

Our supreme delight in all this story we are 



REAL FRIENDSHIP. 1 37 

studying is the discovery that David is one of the 
Scriptural types of Christ. And so we seem some- 
times to hear those familiar words of Jesus ringing 
through the air of Judaea: "Greater love hath no 
man than this, that a man lay down his life for his 
friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I 
command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; 
for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth; 
but I have called you friends; for all things that I 
have heard of my Father I have made known unto 
you. ' ' 

There is an Afghan proverb which says: " God 
will remain; friends will not." But if the Son of God 
be our friend, then -surely there is one who remains, 
the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. When Presi- 
dent Edwards died, he summoned all his relatives 
to bid them his final farewell. ' Then he turned 
away positively and suddenly, saying, " Now where 
is Jesus of Nazareth, my true and never-failing 
Friend?" And so he fell asleep. 

The close of our story is pathetically simple: 
"And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, foras- 
much as we have sworn both of us in the name of 
the Lord, saying. The Lord be between me and 
thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. 
And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into 
the city." 

We do not know that these two men ever met 
more than once thereafter. There came war, and 
they w^ere on different sides. Jonathan fought loy- 
ally for his father, and was slain. Is it wrong to 
think that he was glad that his friend would profit 



138 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

by his disappearance ? David, with his eyes full of 
tears, sang a song of mourning and brave hope, 
than which he never penned a sweeter. Then swift 
years glided by: "Therefore are they before the 
throne of God, and serve him day and night in his 
temple. ' ' 

Fairer possession or finer has no man in this 
world than that of some dear old friend whom the 
flitting years only make truer and gentler and 
kinder. Absence need not be reckoned. Jonathan 
"in the city," David "in the wood," no matter 
where they are; each is sure the other "cares;" 
each is confident that in the hereafter of the blessed 
ones there will be kept the same regard, pure and 
changeless. For the kingly natures of the earth do 
bring their glory and honor into the New Jerusalem 
at the last. 



FORGIVENESS AS A FORCE. 1 39, 

XIV. 

FORGIVENESS AS A FORCE. 

" Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe 
PKiviLY." — I Ham. 24:4. 

The chapter we are to study to-day starts out 
abruptly in its pursuance of the history: "And it 
came to pass, when Saul was returned from fol- 
lowing the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, 
Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi." 
Engedi means "the fountain of the kid," and the 
fountain so called lies among the hills on the west- 
ern shore of the Dead Sea, and still bears its ancient 
name. "Then Saul took three thousand men out 
of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men 
upon the rocks of the wild goats. And he came to 
the sheepcotes by the way where was a cave; and 
Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his 
men remained in the sides of the cave." 

This cave grows picturesque as we look at it: 
the tired soldiers grouped in unsophisticated atti- 
tudes for rest, heavy shadows lying over them ; the 
sudden entrance of their royal foe, whom the men 
in the dark could see, though remaining themselves 
unseen; the first flash of fear as they seemed en- 
trapped by the misfortunes of the position, followed 
by the gleam of grim satisfaction when they per- 
ceived their enemy had put himself in their power; 
the whispered conversation between David and his 



140 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

rough comrades, which must have been conducted 
half in words and half in gestures; then at last the 
hushed breath of anticipation, as the giant king of 
Israel yawned and awaked, and swung his tall bulk 
out into the valley once more; all this is dramatic 
in the highest sense, and hardly needs the pencil of 
an artist to put it upon canvas so that our eyes may 
behold it. 

The moral teaching of the incident will be easily 
reached if we notice the three steps of David's ex- 
perience in turn; the temptation he endured, the 
magnanimity he displayed, and the victory he 
achieved. 

I. What was the temptation which David was 
called upon to endure that night ? Nothing less than 
this: here was King Saul, fatigued and wretched, 
entering the same rude shelter that covered David's 
homeless head, and offering himself a captive if 
he would take him. And several considerations 
really seemed to favor such a project and make it 
j^rudent. 

1. This was David's most desperate antagonist. 
The king had openly declared that he would smile 
David even to the wall. He once told Jonathan his 
son, and all his servants, to kill him the moment 
they found him. The record says explicitly, ' ' Saul 
became David's enemy continually." Hunted and 
driven, he now found himself in possession of his 
deadliest foe on earth. 

2. Saul was completely in his power. How pa- 
thetic does it always seem to imagine a great strong 
man asleep! Why not terminate this destructive 



FORGIVENESS AS A FORCE. I4I 

campaign once and for ever, and bring the people to 
peace ? Was it wise to continue possible bloodshed 
in further conflict? He knew that Saul was re- 
jected of God; he had been told some years before 
that he himself was to be crowned in his place. 
Why not just put forth one stroke of the same 
sinewy arm which cut off Goliath's head, so smite 
the kino: and end the war? Was sentimental casu- 
istry in order just now? 

3. These men with David had their own case to 
be considered. Along the shadowy sides of the 
cavern lay fierce outlaws, whose hearts, outraged by 
ill-treatment, were burning with desire for revenge. 
Each one of them had a story of personal injustice 
to tell. David remembered that they had perilled 
their lives in many a hillside battle, and were now 
ready to follow his command to the death. But 
here was the great destroyer in their own cave! why 
not destroy him ? So they pleaded with their leader 
to put him to death as he lay there in the mouth of 
the cavern, the light falling on his most unwel- 
come face. 

4. It appeared like a real providence proposing 
swift retribution. Even the undevout soldiers 
whispered to David that the covenanted day of the 
Lord had come for him: "And the men of David 
said unto him. Behold the day of which the Lord 
said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy 
into thy hand, that thou mayest do to him as it 
shall seem good unto thee." They allowed their 
wish to be the father of their thought. God had 
never engaged that Saul should be murdered in se- 



142 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

ci-et and by treachery. He had never sent the king 
into that cavern to render assassination lawful and 
wet David's hands in his blood. 

11. We are now ready, in the second place, to 
consider the magnanimity which this generous 
leader displayed. We can well understand that a 
poetic, passionate man like David might have 
wrought himself up almost into a frenzy under such 
pressure: what did he do? "Then David arose, and 
cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily." Only his 
robe, not his person! and he seems to have had 
some compunctions even over that: "And it came 
to pass afterward that David's heart smote him 
because he had cut off Saul's skirt." 

I. Observe the sturdiness of his resistance to the 
evil thought: "And he said unto his men, The 
Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my 
master, the Lord's anointed, to stretch forth my 
hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the 
Lord. So David stayed his servants with these 
words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul." 
He utterly refused to harbor the suggestion of the 
excited men: he said, "The Lord forbid!" He 
put forth his hand to stay his servants. What 
silence and vigor there must have been in the rapid 
look and the forcible gesticulation with the author- 
ity of which he held back those exasperated crea- 
tures in the cave, so as not to awaken Saul by the 
peremptory command! 

2. Notice also the reach of his generous medita- 
tion. The process of his mind is traced at length. 
His loyalty was touched: "But Saul rose up out 



FORGIVKNKSS AS A FORCE- 143 

of the cave, and went on his way. David also 
arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried 
after Saul, saying. My lord, the king! And when 
Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his 
face to the earth and bowed himself." Bad as 
that enemy was, David knew he was Saul, the king 
of Israel. Perhaps he remembered likewise that 
Saul had given him Michal in marriage; what love 
there was between him and his cool-hearted wife 
would certainly not be improved by his ascending 
the throne through a murder. We feel certain that 
he recollected that Saul was Jonathan's father, and 
Jonathan he loved as his own soul. It seemed to 
occur to David there that this might be made an 
occasion of composing the strife which was racking 
the realm. There always appeared to him to be a 
vast mistake in the quarrel; he was not conscious 
of doing wrong to the king; he admitted Saul had 
his good points, his tender heart, his judicial mind, 
his gentle will, if only they could be found and 
touched. He made up his purpose to forgive his 
enemy and seek reconciliation ; all the rest of the 
issues he would leave to God. 

3. Consider the adroitness of his action. It 
would be a crime to kill the king, but it could not 
be wrong to conquer him. It was not therefore 
necessary that David should lose the supreme ad- 
vantage of this singular opportunity offered. So he 
cut oflf a portion of the royal robe for a sign. He 
was dexterous at seizinof the chance of makinof an 
impression. When one is going, as he says, to 
''leave events to providence," it is always prudent 



144 FROM SAMUEI, TO SOLOMON. 

to inquire whether providence has not left some easy 
expedients of effort to him as well. 

4. Try to appreciate the tenderness of David's 
conscience. Never is a true Christian so consider- 
ate and careful as when his heart is anxious to do a 
magnanimous thing. This fugitive head of a rebel- 
lious band is so generous in spirit just now that he 
grows sorrowful, sad, and ashamed to think he has 
been guilty of disrespect even in touching the royal 
garments. Men may often measure their real sin- 
cerity in trying to do right by their solicitude against 
doing the slightest wrong. 

5. See the moral courage of his decision. Out 
before all that astonished and exasperated crowd of 
lawless men this leader comes, and instantly gives 
away their case by surrendering his own. They 
look with consternation upon their trusted captain 
as they see him bowing himself before their common 
enemy. But what David thinks is right he carries 
at once into execution. He calls Saul "father." 
He pleads for a reconciliation. He enters into a 
passionate argument and appeal. For he hopes to 
close the war by kindness instead of crime: "And 
David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's 
words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? Be- 
hold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the 
Lord had delivered thee to-day into my hand in the 
cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye 
spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth my 
hand against my lord; for he is the Lord's anointed. 
Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy 
robe in mv hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of 



FORGIVENESS AS A FORCE. 1 45 

thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see 
that there is neither evil nor transgression in my 
hand, and I have not sinned against thee: yet thou 
huntest my soul to take it. The I^ord judge be- 
tween me and thee, and the Lord avenge me of thee: 
but my hand shall not be upon thee." 

III. This leads us straight on, as might have 
been expected, to the victory which David achieved: 
"And it came to pass, when David had made an 
end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul 
said. Is this thy voice, my son David ? And Saul 
lifted up his voice and wept." There could be only 
one result to an endeavor like this ; "Hearts are 
not steel, and steel is bent." 

1. We learn here how humble is a foro:ivino^ 
mind. There cannot be anvthinof of exao:o:erated 
self-depreciation in David's comparison of himself 
to a dead dog or a flea. He doubtless expected to 
mollify Saul's jealousy in some degree by these 
strong expressions of meekness. He made appeal 
to his kingly dignity as being too high to suffer him 
to follow up one so ordinary and insignificant as 
himself. When a Christian sets himself about for- 
giving an enemy, he is willing to do it thoroughly. 
He will surrender all pride, and become modest to 
the extreme of civility, lest his pardon shall seem 
like patronage and do harm. 

2. We learn also how trustful is a forgiving 
heart. The issues between Saul and David were 
real, pertinent, living, just as ever. What was to 
become of them? These men behind David, too, 
had the same grievances as before. Facts were not 

From Samuel to Solomon. 7 



146 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

changed because feelings were altered. But this 
brave son of Jesse exacted no pledges for Saul's 
good behavior; he felt he was safe in the Lord's 
hands. He could afford to leave judgment and 
vengeance to heaven: '' As saith the proverb of the 
ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked; 
but my hand shall not be upon thee. After whom 
is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost 
thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea. The 
Lord therefore be judge, and judge between me 
and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and de- 
liver me out of thy hand." He believed, as every 
really good man believes, that if he continued to 
do right, the Lord would deliver him always. 

3. We learn, finally, how forceful is a forgiving 
spirit. Saul is conquered: "Is this thy voice, my 
son David?" A sword might have killed this hard 
man, but only magnanimity could make him wxep. 
There is a strength in moral courage that does not 
reside in physical power. David overcomes evil, 
not with arms, but with good. He spares his en- 
emy, and cuts off a little part of his enmity instead. 
He actuallv leads the stubborn monarch to confes- 
sion and apology. Before those two armies on the 
hill there is a strange spectacle: David is triumph- 
ant, and Saul is defeated; but David is on his knees, 
and Saul is weeping brokenly as he exclaims, 
''Thou art more righteous than I; for thou hast re- 
warded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee 
evih" 



THE DEAD MARCH OF SAUU I47 

XV. 
THE DEAD MARCH OF SAUL. 

"So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, 

AND ALL HIS MEN, THAT SAME DAY TOGETHER." — I Sam. 31:6. 

"To-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with 
me: " so said the solemn voice of the spectre which 
the witch of Endor in some mysterious manner had 
summoned from the grave. And now that morrow 
of fate and doom has arrived, and Gilboa is to be- 
come a monument of the truth of Samuel's pre- 
diction of speedy death and ruin to this king of 
many glad hopes and keen disappointments to the 
nation. 

From this crisis the story advances with the 
august pomp and funereal stateliness of a proces- 
sion. Each verse resembles a strain of melancholy 
music in a dead march; and at times there breaks 
in a new catastrophe that reminds one of the strokes 
of a muffled drum. 

Our lessons of practical instruction are only re- 
iterations; perhaps they can be best stated in words 
which have been inspired. 

I. We begin with this: " Sin, when it finished, 
bringeth forth death.'' The career of the first mon- 
arch Israel ever had is now actually completed: his 
life is a failure; the wrong beginning has reached 
the fatal end. The narrative is unsympathetic and 
cheerless: "Now the Philistines fought against 



148 FROM SAMUKL TO SOLOMON. 

Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the 
Philistines, and fell down slain in Mt. Gilboa. And 
the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon 
his sons: and the Philistines slew Jonathan and 
Abinadab and Melchishua, Saul's sons. And the 
battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit 
him ; and he was sore wounded of the archers. 
Then said Saul unto his armor-bearer. Draw thy 
sword, and thrust me through therewith ; lest these 
uncircumcised come and thrust me through and 
abuse me. But his armor-bearer would not; for he 
was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and 
fell upon it." 

The parallel has more than once been drawn 
between the rejected Saul and the Roman Brutus 
at Philippi. They seem to have had a warning in 
very similar terms the night before they died. And 
the terrible destruction of their respective forces, 
the entire rout and ruin of their cause, worked the 
same maddening result. Each fell on his own 
sword, and so sealed his guilt with suicide. 

One thinks of the story which naturalists tell 
concerning the scorpion, which, girded by a circle 
of fire, coils up on itself into narrower and narrower 
folds, till, when it can endure the heat no longer, 
it turns its deadly venom against itself and buries 
the stinof of destruction in its own brain. Saul 
knew he must die before nightfall that day; it was 
not necessary he should let himself be tortured. 

II. So there is a second text of God's Word illus- 
trated here in the incident: "None of us liveth to 
himself, and no man dieth to himself" The lines 



THE DEAD MARCH OF SAUE. 149 

and links of connection which bind lis to our fel- 
low-men are often very subtle, and sometimes un- 
expected; but they are certainly always very strong. 
We do not know that Saul cared much about others' 
interests, but his guilt was visited on many inno- 
cent souls: "And when his armor-bearer saw that 
Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword and 
died with him. So Saul died, and his three sons, 
and his armor-bearer, and all his men, that same day 
too^ether. ' ' 

By a tradition of the Rabbins we are told that 
the armor-bearer mentioned here was named Doeg, 
and the tale adds that both of these men were slain 
by the same weapon, that was indeed the one with 
which the Lord's servants had been massacred at 
Nob. Just how it came about that this attendant 
soldier should deem it necessary to die at such a 
moment and in such a way, we are not informed. 
It might be surmised, however, that his loyalty, 
perhaps his personal affection, possibly even his 
fear, led him into following the royal example with 
an impulse worthy of a far better deed. But he 
died, and is now forgotten. 

Still more yet do we pity the family of this 
WTCtched king. In the Chronicles the record says 
that "all his house died together." It followed 
rather as a matter of course that they should be 
swept mercilessly down with the fate of the head of 
their line. Perhaps they in their respective parts 
of the field fought bravely for his crown and for his 
honor. It may be they did not know, as he himself 
knew, that this sacrifice would do no good. Their 



150 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

prowess had been hopeless away back at the begin- 
ning of the battle; it was pitiable at the end. For 
in the death of Saul the dynasty died, and their pros- 
pects perished. 

III. Notice, therefore, closely in this connection 
that another of the Bible texts phrases for us a new 
lesson : ' ' One sinner destroyeth much good. ' ' There 
was more in this tremendous catastrophe at Gilboa 
than an individual wreck. Great public interests 
were shaken almost as if the nation had been rocked 
by the force of an earthquake: "And when the men 
of Israel that w^ere on the other side of the vallev, 
and they that were on the other side Jordan, saw 
that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his 
sons were dead, they forsook the cities and fled; and 
the Philistines came and dwelt in them. And it 
came to pass on the morrow^, when the Philistines 
came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and 
his three sons fallen in Mt. Gilboa. And they cut 
off his head and stripped off his armor, and sent 
into the land of the Philistines round about, to pub- 
lish it in the house of their idols and among the 
people. And they put his armor in the house of 
Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall 
of Bethshan." 

Clear over on the other side of the Jordan the 
panic of the rout extended. The villagers rose in a 
frightened mass and deserted their homes. They 
surrendered costly territory without an instant's 
stand for defence, and suffered the victorious Philis- 
tines to occupy their houses and reap their fields. 
Humiliation lay like a pall over all the land. And 



THE DEAD MARCH OF SAUL. I5I 

when the ghouls of war came on the succeeding day 
greedily stripping the dead, they found not so much 
as a squad of soldiers in the plain to receive them 
or resist their horrible errand. So they tore from 
the royal person of Saul the raiment; they cut from 
the tall shoulders the head; they nailed the muti- 
lated limbs of that once beautiful monarch against 
the dull wall of Bethshan among the hills. 

It has been revealed, as a principle of the divine 
government, that those who have sown the wind, 
they shall also reap the whirlwind. But men do 
not always seem to remember that inspiration has 
likewise said, "One sowetli and another reapeth.'' 
The mighty misfortune which attends evil-doing is 
sometimes intensified by the fact that those who 
have done the sowing are not by any meams the 
only ones who have to do the reaping afterwards. 
Saul reaped the wind before he died, and when he 
died too; but it was his people that, with sickles of 
humiliation and loss and shame unutterable, reaped 
the whirlwind in his stead. 

IV. Happily there is another side even to this. 
We choose again from the utterances of inspiration, 
and we read, "The triumphing of the wicked is 
short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a mo- 
ment." It has been noticeable in human history 
that the Almighty deals somewhat surprisingly with 
remnants; even in great devastations there is often 
left a seed that tries to serve him and retrieve the 
disasters: "And when the inhabitants of Jabesli- 
gilead heard of that which the Philistines had done 
to Saul, all the valiant men arose, and went all 



152 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of 
his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to 
Jabesh, and burnt them there. And they took their 
bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and 
fasted seven days. ' ' 

It does our hearts good just now to learn that 
Jabesh-gilead was aroused: somebody after all was 
alive in the land. A good turn often comes back 
again. Years before this Saul had saved the inhab- 
itants of that town from losing their eyes at the hands 
of some brutal enemies; now they sent a faithful 
band to take reverently down from the spikes the 
bodies of the royal victims and give them decent 
burial at last. 

And this w^as the type incident of hope for Israel's 
future.* For a while it did appear as if the Lord had 
forsaken his people. All the gains of honest industry 
and of hard conquest for many an anxious season 
were swept awa}-. Strangers were in possession of 
the large walled towns. Fields were devastated. 
Hearts were sad and half broken. Irreligion was 
flourishing. Obscene and idolatrous worship was 
offered in high places and on conspicuous hills. But 
Jehovah had not left his chosen nation yet. Saul's 
head was deposited in the temple of Dagon; but the 
son of Jesse was coming to the throne. The temper 
of the warriors among the tribes was rising. We 
read in the Chronicles that "at that time day by 
day there came to David to help him, imtil it was a 
great host like the host of God. " It became evident 
that before long affairs would alter for the better and 
the kingdom would recover its advantage. 



THE DEAD MARCH OF SAUL. 153 

It is wiser always to side with the Lord of hosts, 
no matter how discouraging the present prospect 
may be. He will help the faithful ones to retrieve 
fallen fortunes. The wicked will soon cease to 
spread himself like a green bay tree; soon he will 
be *'not." And in the new return of favor there 
will be peace, if only there shall first be purity. 
When Crates the Egyptian saw the men rebuilding 
Thebes, he passionately exclaimed, "For my part, 
from this time forth I want a city which no future 
Alexander can overthrow." 

V. Once more, we find an illustration also here 
of the text that has grown so familiar in our times: 
"In the place where the tree falleth, there it shall 
be." For we cannot leave the story of Saul with- 
out making up an estimate of his career, and trying 
to settle what the causes were which led to his down- 
fall. It appears to us, from our sober point of view, 
that here, as in the old case of Esau, there is the sad 
picture of what the world is apt to call a great lost 
chance. 

Everybody recollects now how the enthusiastic 
people lifted up their shouts when this magnificent 
chieftain came to the throne. The very children in 
the Sunday-school could recapitulate this instant 
the circumstances which promised so well for him 
in the beginning of his reign. But when we study 
the mournful story of his end, we find not a single 
suggestion of anyone's mourning genuinely for him 
except generous David whom he tried ever so many 
tim.es to murder. He had certainly outlived his 

welcome; he had died without being desired. No 

^* 



154 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

patriot sighed for any more of him. What was the 
real reason for all this? 

He lost his chance through his sinning against 
God. Imagination grows busy with thinking of his 
final experiences. We wonder whether, in that last 
wild moment while he was pleading with his awe- 
struck armor-bearer to kill him, he wished for the 
old times and the former opportunities to come back. 
It is not worth while to inquire further as to his 
remorseful regrets; it is too late now; it was too late 
then; a mere sentence spoken by the wisest man in 
the world is enough to show us what would be his 
fitting epitaph; so he passes out of our sight: " There 
is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain 
the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: 
and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall 
wickedness deliver those that are given to it. All 
this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every 
work that is done under the sun: there is a time 
wherein one man ruleth over another to his own 
hurt. And so I saw the wicked buried, who had 
come and gone from the place of the holy, and they 
were forgotten in the city where they had so done. 
This is also vanity. '^ 

He lost his chance: but ours remains to us yet; 
and this is of vast importance and demands our no- 
tice as living men. "The memory of the just is 
blessed; but the name of the wicked shall rot." 
While the hours linger salvation is possible to any 
one who will come with penitence seeking it, and 
even a great bad record may be blotted from the 
book of God^s remembrance by the blood of Christ. 



GRKATNESS BY GENTLENESS. 1 55 



XVI. 

GREATNESS BY GENTI.ENESS. 

"And David went on, and grew great, and the Lord God of 

HOSTS WAS WITH HIM." — 2 Sam. 5; lO. 

"Thy gentleness hath made me great." So 
wrote David when he rehearsed the history that had 
cuhninated in his advancement to the throne of 
all Israel. He admits, therefore, that he was a 
"made" man, but not a "self-made" man. Here 
in the narrative of his prosperity he confesses that it 
had been the lyord who established him king, who 
also exalted his kingdom; and then in a Psalm of 
devotion he ascribes all his glory to divine grace. 

We can reach the instruction now offered us 
better, if we spend a little time in considering the 
greatness David had just reached and the gentle- 
ness he instantly acknowledges. 

I. At last this monarch had attained the height 
of power and was established in a throne loftier 
than that which Saul had forfeited. Six successive 
steps, at the least, had the eternal God taken in his 
behalf on the way to his advancement. 

I. He caused that a full and loyal call should 
come from the realm over which he was now to 
rule as the second king: "Then came all the tribes 
of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spake, saying. 
Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh." 

We must study this verse: it is evident from it 



156 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

that some gracious influence of God's Spirit had 
been working among these people, preparing them 
for such a king as he was. The blending of the 
two forms and phases of feeling which they here 
display is remarkable; they do not in the least 
reject the notion of an overruling authority from 
Jehovah himself, but they couple with it a hopeful 
and happy recognition of David's relationship, as a 
man whom they felt to be one of themselves. Here 
was an early instance of a divinely-ordered govern- 
ment which was designed to be "from the people, 
by the people, and for the people.'* 

2. The Lord trained David for the position he 
was to occupy by a long and intricate process of 
providential discipline: "Also in time past when 
Saul was king over us, thou wast he that leddest 
out and broughtest in Israel: and the Lord said to 
thee. Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou 
shalt be a captain over Israel." 

This official deputation of the tribes admitted 
that God had been dealing with him for many years 
before to render him a shepherd who should "feed " 
and a "captain" who should lead Israel. Freder- 
ick the Great used to say, "A king is but the first of 
subjects." He must have meant by this that only 
lie who had been taught how to be obedient to law 
and order could be fitted to rule over masses of men. 
David had gone through great versatilities of expe- 
rience; he had known what it was to abound and 
what it was to be abased. Once he had sat at the 
feet of Saul, the monarch, and once he had been out 
on the hills homeless and pursued ; once he had 



GREATNESS BY GENTLENESS. 1 57 

heard the maidens singing about the victories he 
had gained and the thousands he had slain, and 
once his wife had let him down through a window 
that he might escape for his life. On the slopes of 
Bethlehem hills he had tended flock after flock as 
his father grew in wealth; and there under those 
Syrian skies he had learned the song of the night 
from the chiming of the stars that gave to him the 
fiofures of the eio:hth and the nineteenth Psalms. 
And then, years afterwards, he had been a fugitive 
and an outlaw, hiding among the same caverns and 
fleeing along the same paths. Out of all this had 
come growth, and out of all of it had come expe- 
rience for his present charge. 

3. ]\Ioreover, God had chosen David intelligent- 
ly, years before, and announced him as the man 
-who should come after Saul : "So all the elders of 
Israel came to the king to Hebron; and King David 
made a league wdth them in Hebron before the 
Lord: and they anointed David king over Israel." 

It is true the people anointed him now, but God 
had caused him to be anointed a long time previous 
to this; a promise that was given then had made 
him the uncrowned king of Israel for an unreckoned 
period of fifteen years. This monarch's history 
furnishes one of the brightest and most affecting 
illustrations of the fact that every true man's life is 
a plan of God. No words can be found in the Old 
Testament annals more profoundly pathetic than 
those with which Asaph closed the seventy-eighth 
Psalm: "He chose David also his servant, and took 
him from the sheepfolds: from following the ewes 



158 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his 
people, and Israel his inheritance. So he fed them 
according to the integrity of his heart, and guided 
them by the skilfulness of his hands." 

4. Then, too, God helped on David's greatness by 
providing for the stability of his government a capi- 
tal and a royal abode: "Nevertheless, David took 
the stronghold of Zion; the same is the city of 
David. And David said on that day. Whosoever 
getteth up to the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites, 
and the lame and the blind, that are hated of David's 
soul, he shall be chief and captain. Wherefore they 
said. The blind and the lame shall not come into the 
house. So David dwelt in the fort, and called it 
The city of David. And David built round about 
from Millo and inward." 

And now with this acquisition of new territory 
begins the strange long story of a wonderful old 
town; here first it finds itself enrolled as a true city 
of God's providence and love, as well as the centre 
of Christian interest and inquiry for nearly three 
thousand years: an ancient stronghold of the Jebu- 
sites in wild and warlike days, suddenly converted 
into an Israelite citadel, by-and-by becoming "Ariel, 
where David dwelt," then as Jerusalem, "habita- 
tion of peace," becoming a type of heaven — the 
"Jerusalem above, which is free, which is the mo- 
ther of us all." When this enthroned kinor took his 
earliest outlook from the palace he could see Beth- 
lehem in the distance, and send his recollection over 
all the past path along which God's providence had 
led him. Good and pious resolutions appear to have 



GRKATNESS BY GENTI.ENESS. 159 

swelled his heart: the one hundred and first Psalm 
is believed to have been composed at this time, and 
certainly seems to have foreshadowed all the best 
policies of this king's long reign. We might read 
it over, for with these purposes he committed his 
future to God: 

" I will sing of mercy and judgment : unto thee, O Lord, will 
I sing. 

" I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when wilt 
thou come unto me ? I will walk within my house with a per- 
fect heart. 

" I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes : I hate the 
work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me. 

" A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a 
wicked person. 

" Whoso privily slandereth his neighbor, him will I cut off: 
him that hath a high look and a proud heart will not I suffer. 

" Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they 
may dwell with me : he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall 
serve me. 

" He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house : 
he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight. 

" I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may 
cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord." 

5. Once more: God's gentleness made David 
great in that a perpetual presence was vouchsafed 
to him for his entire life: "And David w^ent on, 
and grew great, and the lyord God of hosts was 
with him." 

At the height of his fame Agamemnon is re- 
corded to have said that his nobility imposed upon 
him the dignity and the duty of being foremost in 
enduring labors for others. It is not everybody that 
sees this clearly when he rises into a position of 
honor and force. This newly-crowned son of Jesse 



l6o FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

had gained a vast experience already. His outlaw 
years had taught him the responsibility of leadership. 
He knew what he was now going to undertake. 
*' He sure must conquer who himself can tame.'' 
But a peculiar element in his instruction had shown 
him that he could succeed only when God was w^ith 
him. It is to edification to us all that we find here 
in the very first battle he fights against his old ene- 
mies the Philistines, that he rests entirely upon an 
answer to his prayers; he waits for a mysterious 
messenger from on high; he will not bestir himself 
till there is the "sound of a going in the tops of the 
mulberry-trees;" by that he is to be certain that the 
*'Lord shall go out before" his armies. It has 
deepest meaning to a believing heart that God cares 
and helps. 

6. Then, also, God had made this monarch great 
by opening his intelligence so that he should under- 
stand the meaning of divine providence, past and 
future, and admit its special reach: "And David 
perceived that the Lord had established him king 
over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom 
for his people Israel's sake." 

When we read over this verse we must be sure 
to attach unusual importance to that word "per- 
ceived." Not every king is alert enough to find 
out, nor humble enough to acknowledge, that he 
owes his fortune not to adroitness or address, but to 
the positive arrangements of history written before- 
hand in God's books. Nebuchadnezzar walked 
along the roof of his palace once, and in the vast 
distances below and around him saw his mighty 



GREATNKSS BY GKNTI^KNE;SS. i6i 

capital: "The king spake, and said, Is not this 
great Babylon, that I have built for the house of 
the kingdom by the might of my power, and for 
the honor of my majesty ?" But David knew that 
Jehovah had ordered and adjusted his entire career 
for him. His devotion was now at its highest 
point. He seemed to be keeping, about these days, 
his harp in his hand almost all the time. One of 
the old commentators once called the Psalms of 
David "a spiritual library." He was by no means 
unduly enthusiastic, for they have lived in the 
hearts of God's people for thousands of years. The 
experience crowded into those lyrics of the shep- 
herd-king is so extensive only because he accepted 
his whole life as a plan of God. He "perceived 
that the Lord had established him," and then he 
thoughtfully admitted it before the ages to come: 
"Thy gentleness hath made me great. " 

II. It is time for us now to move onward to the 
consideration of the second point that was mentioned 
at the beginning of this sermon: the gentleness in 
the divine dealinsf with him from his first recoofni- 
tion as a shepherd-boy to this final establishment of 
him in the throne of Israel: it is that in particular 
among the attributes of God which he acknowl- 
edges just now. 

The poet Goethe has left behind him, in his 
autobiography, this somewhat curious sentence as a 
revelation of personal fact: " I was especially trou- 
bled by a giddiness which came over me every time 
that I looked down from a height." Many people, 
since his day and before it, have had the same char- 

From Samuel to Solomon. 



1 62 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

acteristic disturbance; but it has more often been a 
height of ambition than merely a height of tower or 
precipice. It would have been no astonishing sur- 
prise to us, if we had been, here in the story we are 
studying, confronted with a sort of superciliousness 
in the manners and speech of this Bethlehem lad so 
suddenly raised to the very summit of power, and 
now summoned to look across the years and trace 
the steps of the steep declivity up which his history 
had been climbing. But there is no symptom of 
giddiness in the quiet ascription of his gratitude: 
"Thy gentleness hath made me great." We have 
seen how the providence of God had lifted this man 
up to such an eminence, and have discovered the 
particulars; it remains for us now to inquire how it 
comes about that David speaks more concerning the 
gentleness with which he was led on. 

I. For one thing, God's gentleness had borne 
with David's want of memory. There is something 
very singular in the foreboding, which was notice- 
able more than once in David's experience. Re- 
call for a moment one incident in which Jonathan 
helped him: "And David saw that Saul was come 
out to seek his life: and David was in the wilder- 
ness of Ziph in a wood. And Jonathan Saul's son 
arose, and went to David into the wood, and 
strengthened his hand in God. And he said unto 
him. Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall 
not find thee ; and thou shalt be king over Israel 
and I shall be next unto thee; and that also Saul 
my father knoweth. " Why w^as it left to this 
friend of his to assure him that he had been an- 



GREATNESS BY GENTLENESS. 163 

oiiited to be king in Saul's place? Had David 
really forgotten it? Yet here was the prince of 
the kingdom announcing a succession that would 
dispossess him of all hereditary position in his own 
right — a fact which he and his father knew, but 
David seems to have allowed to slip out of his 
mind altogether in his estimate of his peril. It was 
surely a culpable disrespect of the divine promise; 
and still God bore with it gently and patiently, and 
took the hand so frankly laid over into his again. 

It is not wise to find fault with this son of Jesse, 
lest we condemn ourselves. Many a Christian 
professes to be abiding in the Lord and living on 
a promise; he is bold and brave till some real on- 
set of the adversary summons him to his defences 
at an instant's warning; then he forgets his cove- 
nant. Few in our time know what it is to rely upon 
God with a sense of absolute communion with him. 
Not every one can say, as did one of those rough 
cavaliers of whom w^e read in the old "Morte d' Ar- 
thur," "It is more than a year and a half since I 
have lain down ten times in a dwelling w^here men 
rest; but in the wildest forests and in the mountains 
God has ever been my surest comfort and my stay." 

2. Then, also, there was David's want of faith, 
with which the Almighty bore in a like spirit of 
gentleness. Here again a fraternal interposition of 
Jonathan alone saved him from making shipwreck 
of his future ; for Jonathan's confidence was un- 
broken: "And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, 
and came and said before Jonathan, What have I 
done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin 



164 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

before thy father, that he seeketh my life? And 
he said unto him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: 
behold, my father will do nothing either great or 
small but that he will show it me: and why should 
my father hide this thing from me ? it is not so. 
And David sware moreover, and said. Thy father 
certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine 
eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, 
least he be grieved: but truly, as the Lord liveth, 
and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between 
me and death." Think of the steps of service and 
honor, and duty and obedience, which, during the 
forty years of reigning in Jerusalem, were between 
David's coronation and death ! 

We can only admire the long-suffering and pa- 
tience of God which was shown in the gentleness that 
forbore with such wretched unbelief. If the Lord 
had fallen heavily on him with the retribution due to 
it, David might have had no salutary penitence with 
which to meet the blow; for he was of a passionate 
temperament, and might have ruined himself by a 
hot answer. It is not easy to walk by faith when 
sight is so much more flattering to our human pride. 
" It is one thing to believe," said Des Cartes, " but 
another thing for a man only to imagine that he 
believes." "Delight thyself also in the Lord, and 
he shall give thee the desires of thy heart. Com- 
mit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and 
he shall bring it to pass." 

3. To this we may add that God's gentleness is 
disclosed in his patiently bearing with David's want 
of courage: "And David said in his heart, I shall 



GREATNESS BY GENTLENESS. 165 

now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is 
nothing better for me than that I should speedily 
escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul 
shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any 
coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.'^ 
It is plain that he had lost all hope and given over 
all trust, and so surrendered himself a prey to sim- 
ple cowardice in the immediate presence of danger. 
He decided to give himself up into the hands of his 
enemies. He was going to become traitorous in his 
desire to escape from his personal peril. It is piti- 
ful to be obliged to read a record like this, for we 
must admit one inevitable inference, that David was 
foolishly afraid. 

We must arrest the discussion now: indeed there 
is nothing in the story which is more fittiug to fix 
its impression on our minds than this we have just 
observed. We may all find it much to our edifica- 
tion to take a stand where we may review our past 
history and examine our future prospects in the 
light of this abiding principle: it is God's gentle- 
ness which makes any believer great. It is an af- 
fecting thought for each of us to bear in mind, that 
divine love has been very patient with us. Even 
far inferior successes have the same explanation as 
David's, and we may well keep singing his song, 
praising the gentleness of God. 

"A sacred burden is the life ye bear; 
Look on it, lift it, bear it solemnly: 
Stand up and walk beneath it steadfastly; 
Fail not for sorrow, falter not for sin, 
But onward, upward, ever, till the goal ye win." 



l66 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

XVII. 
SEEKING THE ARK OF THE COVENANT. 

"And David arose, and went with all the people that were 

WITH HIM FROM BaALE OF JUDAH, TO BRING UP FROM THENCE 

THE ARK OF GoD." — 2 Sam. 6 : 2. 

For sixty-five or seventy years this Ark of the 
Covenant had been permitted to remain in almost 
total neglect and forgetful ness. Those Israelites 
had fallen into the habit of bearing it at the head of 
their attacking columns in battle; the Philistines 
were afraid of it; but, on one occasion, they cap- 
tured it nevertheless. They recognized it as the 
symbol of Jehovah, and they complimented it with 
a place by the side of their deity Dagon in their 
temple. But Dagon got the worst of it in the impi- 
ous association, and was broken to pieces down to 
the stump. In their consternation they then gave 
it to Ekron; and there was a deadly destruction 
through all the city, and the frightened inhabitants 
sent it forward to Bethshemesh. There the Lord 
smote fifty thousand men for looking into its sacred 
recesses. These poor people moved it along till at 
last it was restored into Israel's hands; after that it 
rested in the little border town of Kirjath-jearim, 
beneath the roof of Abinadab, and under the official 
care of Eleazar, who was constituted its priest. 

There it had remained during all the stormy pe- 
riod of the monarchy so far. At length the time had 
come for David to interpose and, in the exercise of 



SEEKING THE ARK OF THE COVENANT. 167 

his royal authority, bring it back into prominence 
and reverence in the worship of the people. 

I. Our study to-day will require us to answer a 
few questions concerning the Ark itself, before we 
enter upon the story of its removal with so much 
pomp and ceremony to Jerusalem. 

1. What was the so-called "Ark of the Cove- 
nant"? It was a mere chest or box of wood, cov- 
ered with golden plates, with its elegantly-wrought 
lid, above which hovered the figures of the two 
cherubim. Between these the sacred light of the 
Shechinah presence of Jehovah was wont in the 
Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle to shine; and just 
there was the Mercy-seat of prayer. The contents 
of this strange receptacle were peculiarly interest- 
ing: a pot of manna such as that which fell in the 
wilderness, the two tables of the law given to Mo- 
ses, and Aaron's rod that budded. 

2. Of what was it the symbol ? Of the presence 
of Jehovah as the "covenant-keeping God" of his 
people Israel. In the New Testament there is 
found very little of appeal to men's imagination. 
That which gave to this fonner dispensation its 
richness and splendor was suffered to pass out of 
sight and use in order that the spiritual teaching of 
the gospel mJght not be obscured by mere sensuous- 
ness of external forms. The present worship of 
God is very plain, but to the eye of faith or the 
heart of love there is that in it which is far more 
valuable than simple show and glitter of ritual. 
"If that which is done away was glorious, much 
more that which remaineth is glorious." 



l68 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

3. Of what is the Ark a sign now? This ques- 
tion needs an answer in order to open the line of 
instruction between the Old Testament and the 
New. We shall make a better use of this narrative 
now, if we recollect that what the Ark of the Cove- 
nant was in those davs to David, sometimes an i7i- 
stitntion is to us. For example, the Sabbath, as a 
period set apart for the Lord ; while we have it and 
observe it, it is as if the divine presence were abi- 
ding in the midst of us. Just so the Ark is often 
represented in an organization like the church. 
Christ loved the church, and gave himself for the 
church, which is his body. Where this company of 
believers is compact in strength and fidelity, there 
is prosperity and peace in the presence of the Re- 
deemer. Then, too, the Ark becomes the sign 
sometimes of an ordinance^ like the Lord's Supper. 
There have been days in which the true Sacrament 
needed to be brought back from among the Philis- 
tines as evidently as the symbol of a divine pres- 
ence needed to be brought in David's reign. Now 
and then in a duty likewise does the Ark become 
our sign in these days of open Bibles and secret sin. 
The family altar of prayer is in every one's mind 
the moment we think of the blessings of that sacred 
symbol in the prospered house of Obed-edom. Often 
in even a doctrine likewise does the Ark find its rep- 
resentative in modern times: truth is betrayed when 
righteousness is low in men^s hearts. An old creed 
may be lost in polemic battle, and then a procession 
of singing people may have to be sent for it, or the 
church cannot hope to be prospered. However we 



SEEKING THE ARK OF THE COVENANT. 169 

may look at the narrative before us, it will not be 
for want of suggestion that it may seem foreign to 
our need, for of that it is full. 

4. What does the absence of the Ark involve? 
The lonely heaviness of work done without a 
helper or a promise of success. And let us under- 
stand that, when the Ark of God's presence is away 
from one's kingdom or one's house or one's heart, 
he must go after it; it will not start on its path 
unless it is sought. In our Christian days we have 
some advantages and encouraging motives for zeal. 
That ancient Ark was only a symbol; Christ's pres- 
ence is to us a wonderful fact. That was but a sign 
that divine companionship was near; now we may 
be sure that Jesus, the Master, is really under our 
roofs and in our hearts. That stay in the house of 
Obed-edom was but for a while; the residence of 
Jesus Christ with us may be permanent: he has 
promised that he and his Father will come to a be- 
liever, and will make an "abode" with him for 
ever. Then, moreover, this presence is extensive 
enough for every man : we do not read that any one 
received the Ark cordially during all that period of 
its wandering, and the record does not tell of any- 
thing but disaster from its nearness, until it is 
lodged in the house of this Gittite; then all shows 
prosperity and peace. Our promised presence of 
Christ is oflfered to each seeking believer as much 
as it ever was to Obed-edom. 

11. Thus we are ready to take up the narrative 

of David's removal of this ancient symbol of the 

theocratic government; it w^as of no use to him to 

8 



170 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON'. 

have a great town for his capital or a fortified 
stronghold for his citadel; he knew then what he 
sang afterwards in his Psalm, that "Except the 
Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build 
it; except the Lord keep the city, the watchman 
waketh but in vain." 

It will be necessary that you bear constantly in 
mind the representative character of this trans- 
action, as it has already been before us, or you will 
gain no spiritual help from it. It will furnish us 
w^ith some suo:o:estions concerning^ different methods 
of treating the presence of God when vouchsafed 
to us. 

I. To begin with, we can see here how the Ark 
of God must be treated with a becoming honor. 
There are times when good or modest people should 
be quiet and retiring; and there come also times 
when they need to be spectacular and even showy. 
True humility can be shown in forwardness; for 
there are occasions in which it costs more to 2:0 
forth into necessary conspicuousness, and brave the 
criticisms of public opinion, than it would to remain 
in concealment, withdrawn into a quiet of deepest 
reserve. 

"Again, David gathered together all the chosen 
men of Israel, thirty thousand. And David arose, 
and went with all the people that were with him 
from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the 
ark of God, whose name is called by the name of 
the Lord of hosts that dwelleth between the cheru- 
bim." That must have been a splendid pageant, 
when the king led out in person the very flower of 



SEEKING THE ARK OF THE COVENANT. IJl 

his army, thirty thousand veterans in number. 
They must have nearly lined the road along the 
stretch of nine miles, and filled the ways with glit- 
ter of arms. Nothing is too much for a soul that 
loves God, in that glad and affectionate moment 
when it finds it can pay him his due honors. 

2. We see, also, how the Ark of God can be 
treated with a culpable carelessness: *'And they 
set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it 
out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah; 
and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave 
the new cart." It had been decreed in the beg-in- 
ning of its history that this singular chest should be 
carried on men's shoulders; for this purpose of 
handling it had been constructed with rings througTi 
which poles might be passed so that it could be 
borne by the priests. Here we observe that Abina- 
dab mounted it in a cart; and in this he patterned 
not after Moses, but after the Philistines, who once 
did the same disrespectful thing. 

It is of no use to say this was of no consequence. 
It is always of much consequence that one obeys 
God, and pays respect to every one of his command- 
ments exactly as he gives them. The sequel of 
this story will tell us whether such thoughtless 
disobedience passed without notice from God's sov- 
ereignty. When finally David really brought the 
Ark into the city, he took eager pains to have men 
detailed to carry it on the staves prescribed. Men 
must serve Jehovah, but it is part of the obedience 
he asks that they shall be content to serve him in 
the way he commands. 



1/2 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

3. We see how the Ark of God can be treated 
with the highest exuberance of joy : "And David 
and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on 
all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on 
harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on 
cornets, and on cymbals.'^ It is impossible for an 
ordinary reader to go over this history without find- 
inof his imao^ination all on fire with exhilaration. 
The music in this case constituted one of the grand 
features of the occasion. The account in the chap- 
ter from which the text is taken must be supple- 
mented by that which is added in the book of Chron- 
icles: there we learn that a great school of training 
in music was set up at Jerusalem in patient prepara- 
tion for this ceremony. There is nothing too good 
in poetry, in instruments, in singing, for God who 
is over all. 

In this procession David himself took part. He 
wrote the words of the hymns which were sung. 
They had in their band all sorts of curious instru- 
ments: "harps" that were stringed across metal, 
and "psalteries " that were stringed over wood; with 
"timbrels," which were what we call tambourines, 
and "cornets," which were loud-ringing blast-giv- 
ers made out of the horns of chamois goats or rams, 
with "cymbals," which were brazen disks like our 
own in these modern times, and full of tremendous 
vibration in that clear atmosphere; and the account 
in Chronicles says they had "trumpets" also; and 
with all these, a chorus of men's voices — a mighty 
body of nine hundred and sixty-two priests and Le- 
vites, of whom it is declared, they "played before 



SEEKING THE ARK OF THE COVENANT. 1 73 

God with all their might, and with singing." Ah, 
that must have been congregational music worth 
hearing, when King David lifted the Psalms, a choir 
of a thousand male voices joined the strain, and 
thirty thousand soldiers had a chance to do what 
they could to help on! 

4. We see, again, how the Ark of God can be 
treated with a fatal presumption: "And when they 
came to Nachon's thresh ingfloor, Uzzah put forth 
his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for 
the oxen shook it." The grand procession moved 
on along its w^ay, making the air quiver with the 
usual songs wdiich were sung when this sacred sym- 
bol w^as advancing: "Arise, O Lord, into thy rest; 
thou and the Ark of thy strength!" They reached 
one of those open spaces common in that region, 
where the rock had been swept clear for a threshing- 
floor; the oxen, perhaps, slipped on such a treacher- 
ous spot; the cart was shaken. Uzzah, one of the 
two sons of Abinadab, seeing the catastrophe or fear- 
ing one, suddenly seized hold of the golden chest. 
There is no proof that his hand more than touched 
it; but presumption proved to be profanity: "And 
the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, 
and God smote him there for his error; and there he 
died by the ark of God." He w^as not a priest, he 
had no rights, he was not responsible for any duty. 
God's holiness would not bear it; Uzzah fell dead 
beside the cart. Now was seen the folly of putting 
the sacred symbol in a wagon to be drawn by beasts; 
now was disclosed the wickedness of an unauthor- 
ized anxiety about God's aflfairs. 



174 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

Is it likely that any one could now commit such 
a sin, or rush into any danger of such a punishment? 
We have become somewhat familiar with the warn- 
ing. It is possible that even a modern Christian 
should imagine himself a champion for the defence 
of the church, and all the time be only fighting for 
a denomination; or that one should suppose he must 
stand for the truth of the living God, when what he 
suffers for is only a creed or tradition. And it is 
possible that one should strive to defend an insti- 
tution of the gospel, or a doctrine of the faith, with 
ill-chosen zeal or uncalled-for temerity or fanatic 
determination, or even with unlawful measures or 
tricky deceit. If the Almighty God does not strike 
him down in an instant for his profanity and pre- 
sumption, it is because he is long-suffering and pa- 
tient, and is willing to wait his retributions until 
the rash shall become prudent and the wrong shall 
discover the right. 

5. We see, once more, how the Ark of God might 
be treated with a half-hearted timidity: "And David 
was displeased, because the Lord had made a breach 
upon Uzzah: and he called the name of the place 
Perez-uzzah to this day." This great pageant came 
abruptly to an end: the king's purpose was but half 
of nine miles long. 

He was "displeased:" the word means vexation 
akin to petulance; he was disappointed in all his 
plans. There was a sense of humiliation under the 
discovery of an unexpected exercise of divine sover- 
eignty. Ilis complacence in his own action was 
altogether disturbed. Jehovah had not asked this 



SEEKING THE ARK OF THE COVENANT. 175 

king's permission to inflict retribution on a subject; 
he was the King of kings: "And David was afraid 
of the Lord that day, and said, How shall the Ark of 
the Lord come to me?" 

He was "afraid." There was likewise a sense 
of penitence under the revelation of infinite holiness. 
He must have discovered that they all had gone 
about their work in a hurried and a self-seeking 
way. He could admit now that he had rather prided 
himself on undertaking so creditable a thing as this 
journey after the Ark. Fear fell on his heart under 
such a reminder of a jealousy and a power so sensi- 
tive and supreme. What if his own sins should be 
visited on him with a punishment as swift? 

He was inconsiderate: "So David would not re- 
move the Ark of the Lord unto him into the city of 
David: but David carried it aside into the house of 
Obed-edom the Gittite." He seems not to have had 
the least compunction or care concerning the dan- 
ger he might bring to the house of this stranger, 
Obed-edom. He dared not take the Ark any farther, 
but deposited it beside the way as quickly as his 
alarmed attendants could remove it from the wheels. 

The admonition here would be addressed to such 
persons as start out in a religious career, and leave 
their surrender to a life of consecration only half 
accomplished. They go after the Ark of God wuth 
enthusiasm in the beginning; but, finding it an un- 
expectedly serious thing to continue in the line of 
duty, the purpose becomes irksome, and the surren- 
der is surrendered. 

6. We see, finally, how the Ark of God may be 



176 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

treated with an appropriate and affectionate devo- 
tion: "And the Ark of the Lord continued in the 
house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months: and 
the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household." 
The fearless courage of this unhistoric stranger con- 
trasts finely with the selfish alarm of his sovereign. 
He was a Korathite by birth; this was a help to him; 
he belonged to the family which had originally car- 
ried the sacred symbol through the wilderness travel. 
He now opened the doors of his home; and no one 
can doubt that he offered cheerfully the best of his 
rooms for the Ark to rest in, and the best of his care 
in the reverent protection of it afterward. 

Of course he received his reward; for God is good 
to the men whom he finds to be faithful to any trust. 
Josephus is quoted as saying that, whereas before 
Obed-edom was poor, on a sudden, in these three 
months, his estate increased, even to the envy of his 
neighbors. Matthew Henry says, with his usual 
brightness, that the Ark "paid well for its enter- 
tainment; it is good living in a family that en- 
tertains the Ark, for all about it will fare the better 
for it." 

Household piety is always profitable; w^e suppose 
that the whole career of this devout man felt the 
temporal and spiritual uplifting which religion 
brings with it. We can have God's actual pres- 
ence with ourselves and our children, if we accept 
his Word for our guide and his love for our shel- 
ter evermore. 



PROSPECT AND RETROSPECT. 1 77 

XVIII. 

PROSPECT AND RETROSPECT. 

"Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that thoU 

HAST brought ME HITHERTO ? AnD THIS WAS YET A SMALL 
THING IN THY SIGHT, O LORD GOD ; BUT THOU HAST SPOKEN 
ALSO OF THY SERVANT'S HOUSE FOR A GREAT WHILE TO 

COME." — 2 Sam, 7 : i8, 19. 

When King David ascertained precisely what 
the Lord's will was concerning the erection of the 
temple, he hastened to make known his grateful 
acquiescence. He was to be granted the privilege 
of raising the money for the vast undertaking; but 
it was Solomon his son who was to build the edifice. 
The devout monarch seems fairly borne down with 
the weight of the promises vouchsafed to him. He 
goes immediately into the tabernacle, where the 
ark was resting under curtains, and there presents 
his thanksgivings and his prayers: "Then went 
King David in, and sat before the Lord, and he 
said, Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my 
house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? And 
this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord God; 
but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for 
a o:reat while to come." 

At this precise moment our text brings the pic- 
ture of him before our imagination: he is on his 
knees in the presence of God's majesty. 

Only for a single use do I bring to your minds 
to-day an incident so familiar and yet so foreign to 

From Samuel to Solomon. ^^ 



1/8 FROM SAMUEIv TO SOLOMON. 

our general conception of such an occasion as that 
which assembles believers together at the Lord's 
Supper. We are then sitting before the Lord's ma- 
jesty and kneeling fervently at his mercy-seat un- 
der circumstances not so very dissimilar as might at 
first sight seem. The ark was not Jehovah to David 
any more than the communion-table is Jesus Christ 
to us. But as the ark was to him a symbol of the 
divine presence, so the elements used in this church 
ordinance are symbols to us of the Saviour's body 
and blood. And the words of the king's medita- 
tion as he bowed himself there are singularly appro- 
priate for any devout and grateful believer to repeat 
while partaking of the feast. 

There appears to us always, as these seasons of 
celebration occur with a stated regularity, to be a 
kind of crisis in our religious lives. We pause as 
on an isthmus of time; the past and the future are 
alike open to view. There are no utterances which 
more fitly express our emotions, as we glance back 
over the years, than these used here: "Who am I, 
O Lord God? and what is my house, that thou hast 
brought me hitherto?" And there are no words 
better for us to speak, as we are looking forward 
into the eternity we are rapidly nearing, where the 
fruition of our best hopes is erelong to be, than 
these which the king employed in his gratitude 
then: " And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, 
O Lord God; but thou hast spoken also of thy ser- 
vant's house for a great while to come." 

L Let us try the retrospect first; this will open 
the way for us to note the prospect afterwards. 



PROSPECT AND RETROSPECT. 179 

I. In the history the review of the past was laid 
upon David himself. Thus came to him the mes- 
sage sent by the prophet Nathan: " Now therefore 
thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus 
saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheep- 
cote, from following the sheep, that thou shouldest 
be prince over my people, over Israel: and I have 
been with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and 
have cut oflf all thine enemies from before thee; and 
I will make thee a great name, like unto the name 
of the great ones that are in the earth." 

What a series of reflections must have thronged 
upon that king's mind as he sat there in silence alone 
with the ark of God! His memory would run back 
through the years that passed while he, a fair and 
ruddy-cheeked boy, had tended his father's flocks 
in Bethlehem ; he would recall the scene when, 
flushed with his hurried summons from the field, he 
had come suddenly into the presence of Samuel, and 
been startled bv the announcement that he was one 
time to be the king of his nation, and must consent 
to be solemnly anointed now. This was the first oc- 
currence, flung like a stone into a lake, to ripple the 
calm serenity of his pastoral life, and disturbing it 
ever afterward with restless harassments and fore- 
bodings. How swiftly he had grown up from that 
low estate, to be at last the ruler of Israel upon a 
glorious throne ! 

He had not journeyed along over the hills and 
valleys of years by ways of pleasantness and by 
paths of peace. He would well consider his dangers 
and his deliverances too. He could not have for- 



l8o FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

gotten the hour in which, as a stripling lad, he had 
slain the Philistine giant with the pebble from the 
brook, only by trusting in the Lord God of Abra- 
ham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then that would make 
him think of the terrible manner of Saul's attacks 
upon his life while he as a simple-hearted minstrel 
was trying to soothe him with his harp. He would 
seem to see at this moment of review, perhaps as he 
had never seen before, that his defences must have 
been actually divine. Who could have turned in 
their course those javelins that went quivering 
through the air out of the mad monarch's hand? 
Then would come up the reminiscences of those 
months of wild outlaw life, from the time when the 
malcontents rallied around him at the caveof Adul- 
lam until at last, worn and weary, and almost with- 
out enthusiasm because he was so tired of battle, he 
journeyed up to Hebron out of the wilderness coun- 
try to be crowned. This was a career that might 
well be reviewed with the words, *'Who am I, O 
Lord God ? and what is my house, that thou hast 
brought me hitherto?" 

Now it is to a like historical rehearsal of past 
incidents and experiences that we, my Christian 
friends, are always called by such a festival as this 
ordinance creates; but the history in our case is al- 
most entirely spiritual. There is the choice of us 
first, like that of David in one respect at the least, 
in that it was unexpected and undeserved; but un- 
like it in another respect, in that it was made by 
Infinite Wisdom in the counsels of eternity. Our 
souls were anointed to the celestial kingship before 



PRO.SPECT AND RETROSPECT. l8l 

we were born; after that came our effectual calling, 
when God's Spirit of grace constrained us to close 
in with the oflfers of salvation. Then, for us to 
think of, there come very closely along these merci- 
ful and providential experiences which have fol- 
lowed in train since our early espousal to Christ. 
Who can ever forget them ? 

The call, therefore, is very plain to us : " Look 
unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of 
the pit whence ye are digged." David might some- 
times wonder why, among all that band of brethren 
of his, so stalwart and strong, he, the weakest and 
the youngest, had been selected for this wonderful 
place of honor as the king of Israel. But we may 
marvel the more that we were made to be the re- 
cipients of this grander honor still as kings and 
priests unto God. Among the private papers of 
John Howard was found after his death one bearing 
only these pathetic words: '^Lord God, why 7;?^f" 
Such a reflection must have been suggested in the 
very spirit of David's exclamation there before the 
ark: "Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my 
house, that thou hast brought me hitherto!" 

2. The result of this retrospection upon the prayer 
of the king is the special thing to be observed, be- 
cause there comes to view the true temper which on 
every such occasion as this ought to be found in the 
heart of the Christian. One might suppose that an 
exaltation like that, in the case of a shepherd-boy 
lifted at a stroke to be a sovereign, a token of divine 
favor so evidently supreme would be likely to puff 
up his pride and inflame his vanity. But there ap- 



l83 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

pears nothing of superciliousness nor of self-con- 
ceit, nor even of satisfied complacency, in David 
at this moment. On the contrary, no words can be 
found which in more vigorous terms could express 
his humility and utter self-abnegation than these he 
employs for himself: "Who am I, O Lord God!" 

Matthew Henry commenting in his own inimit- 
able way, exclaims in a kind of expostulation at his 
self-abasement: "Why, he was upon all accounts a 
very considerable and valuable man! His endow- 
ments were extraordinary. His gifts and graces 
wxre eminent. He was a man of honor, success, 
and usefulness; the darling of his country and the 
dread of its enemies." But David here evidently 
counts himself nothing before his Maker, and at- 
tributes everything to God's sovereign grace to him. 

Nor is this all: he disclaims also any credit for 
his relationship and family connection: "And 
what is my house, that thou hast brought me hith- 
erto!" David was evidently an essentially modest 
man. He made very much the same remark as this 
to his royal predecessor on the occasion when he 
was offered the hand of his daughter in marriage: 
"And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and what 
is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I 
should be son-in-law to the king?" Then, and in 
such circumstances, he had much less ground for his 
self-depreciation than now, as it afterwards proved 
in his domestic history. His family was not a mean 
one; he was descended from the regal tribe. But 
he renounced his princely descent before the people 
and before God as any real reason for his pride. 



PROSPECT AND RETROSPECT. 1 83 

The same motive was in his mind now. His reflec- 
tions had made him diffident in temper. He felt 
that he had not been advanced by his own worthi- 
ness, but it was the "gentleness" of God alone 
which had made him "great." So he says: " For 
thy word's sake, and according to thine own heart, 
hast thou done all these great things, to make thy 
servant know them. Wherefore thou art great, O 
Ivord God; for there is none like thee, neither is 
there any God beside thee, according to all that we 
have heard with our ears." 

A calm and candid review of his past religious 
life always humbles a genuine Christian, rather 
than exalts him into self-importance. There are so 
many falls for w4iich he is responsible; there are so 
many neglects for which he is to blame; there are 
so many weaknesses in his character and so many 
errors in his walk, that he feels he has little reason 
to grow self-complacent. It is better to keep saying 
wdth this king before the mercy-seat: "Who am I, 
O Lord God ? and what is my house, that thou hast 
brought me hitherto?" 

11. This leads us directly to the second clause in 
David's question: "And this was yet a small thing 
in thy sight, O Lord God; but thou hast spoken also 
of thy servant's house for a great while to come." 
Having now considered the believer's retrospect, 
we turn to consider his prospect, as he sits at the 
table of the Lord. 

You cannot fail to observe how, in the utterance 
of the text we have chosen, the comparative value 
of these two was reckoned. Glorious indeed were 



184 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

the remembrances which thronged upon David — 
the deliverances, the honors, the communings; he 
dismisses them them at once when he begins to 
think of the anticipations he is permitted to cherish. 
He calls them "a small thing." Not that he 
deemed these past experiences insignificant; he had 
shown by his acknowledgments how he prized them. 
But the transcendent worth of what now remained 
eclipsed them wholly. 

What was this outlook, the peculiar splendor 
of which caused him to value the retrospect less 
than the prospect ? Some of the promises had refer- 
ence to Israel as a kingdom under his reign: "And 
what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even 
like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people 
to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for 
you great things and terrible, for thy land, before 
thy people, which thou redeemedst to thee from 
Egypt, from the nations and their gods ? For thou 
hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be a 
people unto thee for ever: and thou, Lord, art be- 
come their God." Some of them had reference 
even to the Messiah's kingdom; for the Old Testa- 
ment words are quoted by the apostle in the New 
Testament as if concerning Jesus: '*Thy throne, O 
God, is for ever and ever." 

Christian friends, here we stand; I have likened 
the communion season to an isthmus; but it resem- 
bles an isthmus which links a peninsula to a conti- 
nent. We look back, and we behold a beautiful 
land, it is true; how many a bright valley it has, 
how many a high hill; how many green pastures, 



PROSPECT AND RETROSPECT. 185 

liow many still waters! This past life of ours since 
first we learned to know the Saviour is very dear to 
us; it ought to be. How many a glad hour we have 
spent in it after all; how many a joyous companion- 
ship we have known! But we do not regret to turn 
our eyes forward away from it. For we step at 
once upon the mainland of the grand continent of 
the future. On every side it is stretching its vast 
area. Fair fields and beautiful valleys are before 
our vision; mountains as majestic, Pisgah-tops as 
sightly, as ever we have known. 

The one peerless characteristic of the believer's 
outlook is its permanency; it concerns "a great 
while to come." This feast points to the marriage 
supper of the Lamb, the Father's house, the inex- 
liaustible provision, the residence of the blessed, 
from which they shall go out no more for ever. 
Then the children of God shall all come home, 
shall partake of the true bread and drink the new 
wine in the kingdom. 

Observe, finally, that David's acknowledgment 
passes on almost imperceptibly into a prayer. He 
asks for tJie same favors that he has just tJianked God 
for promising. This is all according to rule. Even 
to Ezekiel, rehearsing the terms of the Better Cove- 
nant, the Lord said, "I will yet for this be inquired 
of by the house of Israel to do it for them." Pray, 
then; pray, and the Lord will keep his covenant. 

"And now, O Lord God, the word that thou 
hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning 
his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast 
said," 



l86 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

XIX. 
DAVID'S SIN AND NATHAN'S PARABLE. 

"And Nathan said unto David, Thou art the man." — 

2 Sa??i. 12:7. 

Rapid reversals of feeling are to be expected 
when one gives attentive study to the progress of 
history in the Old Testament. For it seems to be 
the plan of the Almighty, in issuing the biogra- 
phies of so many human beings at once, to show the 
fitful changes more vividly, as they pass across our 
field of vision, by contrasts of striking color. 

We left King David on his knees before the ark 
of God, humbly obedient, praying for greater grace 
and pledging constant piety. Here now we find him 
upon his knees again, but it is because his wicked- 
ness has cast him down to the uttermost depths of 
shame and remorse. 

I. It is necessary that we indicate, in the outset, 
the occasion upon which the monarch disgraced 
himself and the touching little story of the slaugh- 
ter of a poor man's ewe-lamb was told as a parable. 

The king of Israel had committed a fearful and 
degrading sin, so public and so scandalous that there 
was need of direct rebuke. He had beguiled the wife 
of Uriah, one of the generals in his army, away from 
her duty and her home. He had then by a deceit- 
ful plot compassed the death of her brave hus- 
band in order to conceal his shame. To the crime 
of adultery he had added murder. Time passed on: 



DAVID'S SIN AND NATHAN'S PARABLE. 187 

a wicked year wore slowly away. The calm, dis- 
passionate record of the Scripture at this point is all 
the more impressive because the inspired writers are 
not wont to express opinions as to the moral char- 
acter of the transactions they place on the historic 
pages. Here, however, we are tranquilly told, as if 
to guard against any false inference from the divine 
forbearance with this guilty monarch, that "the 
thing which David had done displeased the IvOrd." 
Sharp rebuke was near at hand. 

II. This was the occasion, therefore, for the ut- 
terance of the parable. Nathan, the commissioned 
prophet, suddenly appeared in the palace for its re- 
cital. This man was the old and tried servant of 
the king. He meets us often in the midst of the 
turbulent history of those days. David had learned 
to trust him as a counsellor and lean upon him as a 
friend. For years this servant of the high God had 
been the messenger between the king and Jehovah, 
as well as the medium of information between the 
king and his people. Many a case of injustice, or 
act of unneighborly dealing, had he brought to the 
ears of the monarch, that the wrongs mio^ht be rio^hted 
and the weak succored ag^ainst the strongf. To all 
appearances this was the errand he came upon, when, 
unsummoned by any order, he came into the king's 
presence: 

"And the Lord sent Nathan unto David. And 
he came unto him, and said unto him. There were 
two men in one city; the one rich, and the other 
poor." Alas, how familiar are these words even to 
our ears! How many a perplexed tale opens thus! 



l88 FROM SAMUEI. TO SOI.OMON. 

how many a demand for redress starts with an an- 
nouncement precisely similar! Men seem to know 
how to manage every relationship but one — the 
rich man and the poor in the same city. Now it 
is fair to say that David was usually very keen- 
sighted in such cases as these. His lone trainino- 
of outlaw life under Saul had fitted him to under- 
stand them better than most rulers. Singular illus- 
tration does this parable present of human blindness 
to personal guilt: he who was a prophet as much as 
Nathan now needs a prophet himself; he who could 
detect the sin of any one else instinctively is most 
unsuspicious of any purpose to expose his own. 

"Oh, wad some power the giftie gie us 
To see oursel's as ithers see us ! " 

But Nathan went on to state his case more par- 
ticularly: "The rich man had exceeding many 
flocks and herds: but the poor man had nothing 
save one little ewe-lamb, which he had bought and 
nourished up: and it grew up together with him 
and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, 
and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, 
and was unto him as a daughter. And there came 
a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to 
take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress 
for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; 
but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for 
the man that was come to him." 

The touching beauty of this little apologue can- 
not be passed carelessly by. Its appeal forces its 
way to the most sensitive centres of our feelino-. 
But the general shrewdness of its conception is 



DAVID'S SIN AND NATHAN'S PARABLE. 189 

heightened by the fact that it entered at once into 
the historic experience of this king. He knew what 
it was to be poor; he knew what it was to have and 
to love one little ewe-lamb. In those early memo- 
ries of his Bethlehem home he held most affection- 
ate reminiscences of shepherd life, and he understood 
well the depth of attachment which a lonely man 
would have for a pet from the flock which he had 
tauo-ht to feed from his own hand and lie in his 
bosom. To think that any rich man should plunder 
a poor man, and in the name of sacred hospitality 
should do an act of such ineffable baseness as to 
select meat from another's fold when his own was 
full — this was enough to rouse the fiery indignation 
of a man much less impulsive than David. 

But the story of the one little pet ewe-lamb had 
already touched his feelings: and when Nathan told 
him that the rich, mean neighbor had stolen and 
killed the creature which the poor man cherished 
in his bosom as a daughter, his anger was at its 
height. The old soldier-king seemed to leap up 
from his throne and fairly dilate with terrible wTath. 
His violence exploded into a sentence of unparal- 
leled severity: "And David's anger was greatly 
kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As 
the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing 
shall surely die. And he shall restore the lamb 
fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he 
had no pity." 

HI. This was precisely what Nathan wanted. 
The explication of his skilful parable was instan- 
taneous: " And Nathan said to David, Thou art the 



190 FROM SAMUKL TO SOLOMON. 

man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed 
thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the 
hand of Saul; and I gave thee thy master's house, 
and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave 
thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that 
had been too little, I would moreover have given 
unto thee such and such things. Wherefore hast 
thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do 
evil in his sight? Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite 
with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy 
wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the chil- 
dren of Amnion." 

It is easy to draw a picture of that most impres- 
sive scene before the imagination, however difficult 
it may be to describe it in words. The king must 
have been startled beyond all power of self-control. 
How rapid was the transition of feeling through 
which he passed! One minute he was on his feet 
in all the flush of indignation at another's sin, fairly 
exulting in the proud sense of unutterable contempt 
at injustice so apparent and so unmitigated in its 
foul stroke. In that happy moment how did his 
heart swell under the lofty consciousness that he had 
full power to right so heinous a wrong! How satis- 
fied he was to believe that the poor man's thanks 
would be given him, while the rich man's supercili- 
ousness should be humbled to the very dust: and 
he, David, the just, the noble, the friend of the in- 
jured, would be theme of many a maiden's song. 

The next minute he perceived the countenance 
of Nathan changing towards him. Around came 
that long scornful finger, which had been pointing 



DAVID'S SIX AND NATHAN'S PARABLE. I9I 

at an imaginary offender; and now in reply to the 
implied inquiry for that offender's name, its index 
slowly reached his own face, and then the sober 
words were spoken — " Thou art the man." 

Could his discomfiture have been more complete? 
Could Nathan's triumph of rebuke have been more 
successful ? No invective had been used : not a 
word of upbraiding had been spoken. But in the 
instant when David's judgment had been pro- 
nounced against indescribable meanness and unmit- 
igated wrong he now discovered that his lips had 
pronounced sentence on himself. And of the two 
cases his sin was the more abominable. If it was 
wrong to pilfer a lamb dear as a daughter, what w^as 
it to steal a daughter ? What was it to cheat a man 
of his life and his wife? So, in broken tones, and 
with covered face, he owned it: "And David said 
unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord! " 

IV. In attempting to draw our lessons of pres- 
ent instruction from this parable it is easy to see 
that it does not come legitimately within our reach 
to consider the sin of David, to attempt to apologize 
for it, or to examine his penitence. These can be 
touched onlv incidentallv. The main teachinor of 
the narrative is centred upon the one doctrine con- 
cerning fraternal Christian rebuke. 

I say fraternal, for here you find one inspired 
man rebuking another : a prophet rebuking a 
prophet: a subject rebuking a king. Sin levels the 
loftiest man to the lowest rank. Zeal for God lifts 
the lov/liest man into a vantage unquestioned. Any 
man has a right to be heard when he challenges a 



192 FROM SAMUEI. TO SOLOMON. 

wrong, 'wherever he finds it. And every Christian 
man has a charge from high heaven sturdily to con- 
front sin in all times and places. 

Still, there is a right way and a wrong in which 
to do this. So confused are our notions of real in- 
dignation at wickedness, and the consequent recoil 
from it; so apt are we, in a kind of sanctimonious 
self-congratulation, to mistake a satisfied arrogance 
for a true zeal of righteousness; so likely are we to 
confound spite with spirituality, that it may as well 
be confessed here as anywhere how feebly this duty 
of Christian rebuke is performed by most of the peo- 
ple of God, and how utterly injudicious are most of 
its commonest forms. 

If a man is proud, it seems to poor human na- 
ture rather a fine thing to be instrumental in taking 
him down; if he is rich, it gratifies our ill-concealed 
envy to detect a meanness in him and expose it; if 
he is conspicuous, it pleases our vanity to have by- 
standers observe how fearless is the faithful attack 
we make upon him. 

Hence it is well for us to study this famous re- 
buke with much penetration. 

I. Observe then, first, that in all cases conscience 
is the arbiter in the wrong, and must be the centre 
of aim in the reproof. 

It would have helped Nathan's cause in no re- 
spect whatever to force David to fear public opin- 
ion. Any threat of violence from the great nation 
he had outraged would only have misled the king. 
Just so any endeavor to compel David to appease 
Uriah's relatives with gifts of fortune or position 



DAVID'S SIX AND NATHAN'S PARABLE. 193 

would have entirely missed the point. David must 
be led to see that he had done his wrong in the full 
sight of God. And unless Nathan's rebuke was 
levelled with this direct purpose, and unless it act- 
ually reached its aim, there would have been a 
most serious harm from it. It succeeded, as we 
have seen; but how inimitably it was pressed, and 
how thorough was the triumph, no one is aware 
until he enters into the depth of repentance dis- 
closed in the fifty-first Psalm, where the royal poet's 
contrition appears. There David seems to have 
actually forgotten almost everything but the vile- 
ness of his crime before God, for he savs, " Ao^ainst 
thee, thee only, have I sinned and done this evil 
in thy sight!" We are to lead transgressors to this 
confession, or our most ingenious reproofs will ut- 
terly fail. 

2. Observe, secondly, that absolute rectitude is 
the only standard to be admitted in all processes of 
rebuke. 

Nathan might have paused long before he had 
reached this humbling crisis. But once in the 
chariot of divine retribution, he drove that terrified 
king up to the very verge of ruin. He made him 
see that his entire soul had been defiled; that it was 
not the single act of debauchery which was offend- 
ing the Infinite Purity, but the whole inner defile- 
ment it left behind it. David must perceive not less 
that he had done wrong, only the more that he was 
wrong. So we find in that Psalm of which I have 
spoken the words: *' Behold, thou desirest truth in 
the in-ward parts, and in the hidden part thou shalt 

From Samuel to Solomuu. Q 



194 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

make me to know wisdom. Create in me a clean 
heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." 
It will do little good merely to reprove one out- 
break of sin, and leave the internal source of all the 
evil, the wicked heart, untouched. 

3. In the third place, observe that tenderness is 
the dominant spirit in all truly Scriptural, or even 
successful, rebuke. 

There is not one word of violence in all this ad- 
dress of Nathan. The story of the poor man's ewe- 
lamb cannot even be repeated in a loud, coarse 
voice. Its tranquil incidents are conceived in a 
temper of elevated simplicity. Nathan is not an- 
gry. It is true that David becomes so: this feeling 
is what is speedily turned upon himself. He is in- 
digfnant at last in tearful wrath over his own miser- 
able defection, and mourns out, feeling that all rep- 
aration comes too late: ^' The sacrifices of God are 
a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O 
God, thou wilt not despise." He pours forth a con- 
fession full of contemptuous scorn; but in no words 
of Nathan is there found even a passionate intona- 
tion towards him. 

And there can be no doubt that in this particular 
there is furnished our most admirable lesson. Re- 
member that even under the Old Testament, when 
it was said, "Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy 
neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him," it was 
added, "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy 
heart." Paul told Timothy to "reprove, rebuke, 
exhort;" but he bade him do his delicate duty 
*'with all lonor-sufferinir and doctrine." We have 



DAVID'S SIX AND NATHAN'S PARABLE. I95 

no example, no precept, no intimation, that will 
give us an apology or excuse for proud upbraiding, 
even of the worst malefactors. The servant of the 
Lord must not strive, but be patient with all men. 
Even Michael, the archangel, when contending 
with the devil, did not dare to bring against him a 
railino- accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee! 
It was well that David's agitation should in a salu- 
tary outburst be addressed towards his own discov- 
ered sin; but Nathan would have defeated his own 
parable if he had allowed the king to pervert the 
counsel and become indignant with him for having 
uttered it. 

4. Observe, in the fourth place, that courageous 
fidelity is the measure of all Christian duty in ad- 
ministering rebuke. 

There is a limit here; one may be betrayed, and 
suffer himself to go too far. Hence the wise man 
says: ^' He that reproveth a scorner getteth to him- 
self shame; and he that rebuketh a wicked man 
getteth himself a blot. Reprove not a scorner, lest 
he hate thee; rebuke a wise man, and he will love 
thee." Just whereabouts this line is to be drawn 
cannot be stated in any rule, however elastic it may 
be. But our danger does not generally lie in going 
too far. We are much more apt to be backward in 
challenging high sins. We are afraid of giving 
offence. We are more afraid we shall be attacked 
in our turn by that terrible rejoinder, "Physician, 
heal thyself!" Now men demand honesty from 
Christians above everything else. The ancient 
declaration holds true still: "He that rebuketh a 



196 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

man, afterwards shall find more favor than he that 
flattereth with the tongue." It has been made our 
duty to help each other in just this way. *'Open 
rebuke is better than secret love." The precept is 
imperative: "Them that sin, rebuke before all, that 
others also may fear." It will be a mean evasion 
of this when any one of us beats about, and winds 
around, or in any way stops short of courageously 
saying, " Thou art the man." 

Suffer me now, in closing, to ask how a theme 
like this bears upon our own habits and history. 
Are we up to this standard in helping each other? 
Has not the day of honest fraternal rebuke pretty 
much passed by? And are we not ourselves to 
blame for many of those defections to the common 
cause which make such sudden scandal? It may 
oftentimes check grievous sin, oftentimes lay hold 
of waning penitence, for us merely to speak one true 
word of warning to a perplexed and wavering bro- 
ther in the faith. 

Another question, quite akin to this, is likewise 
suggested by this theme: What ought to be ex- 
pected of every faithful ministry in a time like that 
we live in? What does close preaching mean? Is 
there any sin so peculiarly delicate that the messen- 
ger of God is debarred from saying, "Thou art the 
man "? 

And one more question still: What lesson is 
there here for unrepentant sinners to learn? We 
make parables: we tell you of a child and a father — 
a rebel and a government — a steward and a house- 
holder. We carry your decision at once with us; 



DAVID'S SIN AND NATHAN'S PARABLE. I97 

what is to hinder your own self-condemnation 
when the definite application is made ? David re- 
pented when Nathan told him, "Thou art the 
man." Yet how long many of you linger, even 
under pressure of the truth ! How many men 
stand self-convicted every time the clear gospel is 
preached! You are quick to perceive others' wick- 
edness: your mind responds with instinctive decis- 
ion. Now it is yourself! "He that being often 
reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be de- 
stroyed, and that without remedy." 

"Almighty God, the fountain of all holiness, 
who by thy Word and Spirit dost conduct all thy 
servants in the way of peace and righteousness, 
inviting them by thy promises, winning them by 
thy long-suffering, and endearing them by thy lov- 
ing-kindness; grant unto us so truly to repent of 
our sins, so carefully to reform our errors, so dili- 
gently to watch over all our actions, so industriously 
to perform all our duty, that we may never will- 
ingly transgress thy holy laws: but that it may be 
the work of our lives to obey thee, the joy of our 
souls to please thee, the satisfaction of all our hopes 
and the perfection of all our desires to live wdth 
thee, in the holiness of thy kingdom of grace and 
glory; through Jesus Christ our L^ord." 



igS FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

XX. 

DAVID'S PENITENTIAL PSALM. 

"Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." — Psalm 51:7. 

For many years the IMoravian missionaries la- 
bored among the inhabitants of Greenland with no 
apparent success. One preacher came, and tried to 
prove to his simple-minded hearers that there must 
be a Supreme Being called God. They laughed at 
him for attempting to teach them what they knew 
as well as he. Then came another, urging mo- 
rality, insisting that they should leave off drunken- 
ness and cease to thieve and lie. They sent him 
away in quickened impatience, bidding him go to 
his own people, who needed such counsel far more 
than Greenlanders did. Thus one messenger after 
another arrived and departed. Yet no good seemed 
settled in the hearts of men. 

At last one meek and holv man determined to 
ask what most they wanted; and they answered that 
they wished for something that would cleanse them 
from the guilt and defilement of sin. He proceeded 
to preach the pure simple gospel of redemption, the 
forgiveness of sin through the atonement made by 
the Lord Jesus Christ; he taught them the prayer: 
"Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow," and 
showed how they could be made clean. With one 
heart and voice the people cried out around the pul- 
pit, "Oh, that is what we have been longing to 



DAVID'S PENITENTIAL PSALM. 199 

know this many a day! " Then began the glorious 
work of divine grace, which soon filled the cold 
regions of the north with the warmth and love- 
light of the gospel and brought glory to God's 
name. 

I. Here is a prayer which is tmiversal^ and yet 
perso7iaL ''Wash me, and I shall be whiter than 
snow." If the whole world of sinful men raised 
their voices together, they would still be compelled 
to say " me," as if only one soul had been pleading. 
It is not possible for God to pardon and cleanse com- 
munities in a vast penitent bulk; he pardons each 
soul among the multitude by itself, when the cry 
reaches his ear and he sees the penitence. 

Such a petition takes fresh meaning from the 
fact that in its set terms it was first offered by a 
very good man. But David had fallen into griev- 
ous and direful wickedness. He was at this mo- 
ment driven to the lowest depths of humiliation 
and self-loathing; his conscience was lashing him 
unsparingly with whips which had a sting in each 
thong that struck him. He poured his penitence 
forth in an agony of intense supplication for par- 
don: "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to 
thy loving-kindness; according unto the multitude 
of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 
Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and 
cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my 
transo-ressions; and mv sin is ever before me." 

"My transgressions — I acknowledge my trans- 
gressions:" ah, there is something unutterably pa- 
thetic and solemn in the sense of admitted owner- 



200 FROM SAMUEI. TO SOLOMON. 

ship in wrong! When any human being settles 
back on these fixed conchisions, and in his deepest 
reserves confesses that a great guilt claims him as 
its master; when, with no exculpation of self and 
no inculpation of others, a man simply says, "This 
is mine, unshared, solitary, direct violation of God's 
law," he feels he must go farther than the mere 
act; he must admit greater trouble still; he must 
say not only, "I have sinned," but also, " I am a 
sinner;" then he will cry out like David again: 
"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did 
my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest 
truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part 
thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me 
with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I 
shall be whiter than snow." 

But now the moment any one of us is tempted 
to insist in any instance that the cry is that of the 
Psalmist alone, and is to be used only in a spirit of 
accommodation by the rest of the world, we are met 
by the discovery that Paul says quite the same thing 
in the seventh of Romans. Thus we find it every- 
where — a personal and a universal cry of the human 
soul through the races and the ages. Like some 
great battle-plain at nightfall, where the wild hosts 
have contended, leaving the shade to cover the dy- 
ing and the dead, the whole world is vocal with 
wailings and desperation and pain and hopeless 
agony. Pierced and bleeding, souls suffer and cry, 
and each one says " me " and " my " with a dread- 
ful sense of ownership. Such prayers are personal 
and universal. 



DAVID'S PENITENTIAL PSALM. 20I 

II. Then, further, it is to be confessed that this 
prayer is intensely special^ and yet thoroughly in- 
elusive. As we fasten our attention upon David's 
words, possibly they seem strained: "Against thee, 
thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy 
sight : that thou mightest be justified when thou 
speakest, and be clear when thou judgest." 

We admit that every petition ought to be clear 
and have a specific aim, towards which all the 
energies of our faith are to be directed. And no 
doubt this royal sinner had offended a God of in- 
finite purity. But then think how he was placed, 
and remember what he had done. He was very 
unhappy; why did he not plead for comfort? He 
had just laid his little child in the silence of a 
sepulchre. He was humiliated: a prophet of the 
high God had just given him a public and wither- 
inof rebuke. He was aware of all the asfcrravations 
of his wickedness. He had sinned against Uriah, 
whom he had despoiled and murdered ; he had 
heavily sinned against his whole people, whose 
trust he had betrayed; he had sinned against Bath- 
sheba, w^hose imagination he had royally corrupted; 
he had sinned against his own manhood, by blindly 
covering his eyes from consequences of his weak- 
ness. But now a great passionate cry bursts forth 
from his soul, "Against thee, against thee only^ 
have I sinned! " What can such words mean? 

One of the best of our modern scholars has told 
us that a single term has been employed in the fifty- 
first Psalm to designate the generic idea of sin: this 
originally means to be noisv, to be tempestuous; 

9* 



202 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

thence, with a transition to the notion of a moral 
disorder, it is used with the meaning of breaking in 
pieces with a crash; and so it comes to signify an 
evil action. Beyond this, however, there are three 
other words in the same old formula of confession. 
Each one of these describes a different aspect of the 
idea of sin. For example, the first implies that, 
God's will being the aim which a man rightly pur- 
sues, sin is a missing of his true goal in life; sinning 
is a stumbling on the way to the soul's proper end; 
it is a moral action with a total failure in it. Then 
another of the words regards sin as a twisting or 
perversion of the will from the right way; for it 
means to be bent or distorted; and so evil is the de- 
parture from man's appointed path. And the last 
word brands all wrong-doing as a rebellious trans- 
gression of divine law, the law which every human 
being is bound to obey ; for it signifies in itself 
a faithless rejection of God's covenant with his 
creatures for their good and his own glory. Hence, 
out of the use of all these terms surely comes a 
definition of wrong-doing which centres the whole 
force of it against the Supreme Ruler of the uni- 
verse ; and we can understand now what David 
means when he says, "Against thee, thee only.'* 

The fact is, he had learned that all specific sin 
is hopelessly embraced in the generic sin. Break- 
ing the divine law is what constitutes one a sinner. 
Sinning against one's neighbors is sinning against 
God. So if one can only get his pardon from God, 
he can arrange for his pardon from all others. If 
only he can be washed from guilt in God's sight, 



DAVID'S PENITENTIAL PSALM. 203 

he may be sure that infinite grace can make him 
*' whiter than snow." 

III. Observe, again, that this is a prayer which 
is characterized by titter desperation coupled with a 
supremely confident hope. When the guilt-burdened 
penitent prays, ''Wash me," he is certain that he 
has reached a point at which he cannot wash 
himself. 

He feels precisely as David did when in this 
Psalm he exclaimed, "Thou desirest not sacri- 
fice, else would I give it." A settled conviction 
rests upon his soul: "Thou delightest not in burnt 
offering." He is driven at last to God himself 
He lets go of all dependences he had previously 
tried to lean upon, precisely as Naaman did when 
he gave up his pleading for the rivers of Damascus, 
and started for the Jordan commanded, in order that 
he might bathe there and be clean. He keeps re- 
peating the inquiry of an old prophet: "Where- 
with shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself 
before the high God?" This question he cannot 
answer; for an instinctive sense of the fitness of 
things shows him that he has nothing to ofier for 
an atonement that the Judge needs; the Lord will 
not "be pleased with thousands of rams, nor ten 
thousands of rivers of oil." He cannot give his 
"first-born for his transgressions, the fruit of his 
body for the sin of his soul." 

Singular indeed is that profound consciousness, 
which every guilty person has, that he is all the 
time in pursuit of what he plainly knows will elude 
him. Did you never dream, and feel at the same 



204 FROM SAMUEL TO SOI.OMON. 

moment that you were dreaming? You were aware 
that you were toiling with all your might to attain 
something, which after all you understood would 
amount to nothing. For you were going to awake 
soon, and then these struggles would not count. 

It is not an act of sin that we deplore, nor even 
are its consequences what we dread; it is the deep, 
loathsome pollution of our nature behind and be- 
neath it. One of the old martyrs, said to have been 
betrayed into a moment's recreancy, signed a re- 
cantation of his faith; but renouncing his renuncia- 
tion afterwards, and being a second time led to the 
stake, he thrust his shrivelling right hand into the 
flame where it burned the hottest; then he ex- 
claimed, "This hand did the wrong, it shall suffer 
the earliest!" Now we have no sympathy with 
such an act of reparation, save mere admiration of 
its fortitude; we feel the brave man only made a 
mistake. The hand was not specially to blame; it 
was the heart behind it which was vile and full of 
condemnation. 

Just there comes in the hope on the background 
of despair. We are sure David was right when he 
said that God desired truth " in the inward parts," 
and when he believed that "in the hidden part" 
He would make him to know wisdom. Most of 
us would cheerfully accept his prayer on the instant 
as our securest hope of relief: "Hide thy face from 
my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in 
me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit 
within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; 
and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto 



DAVID'S PENITENTIAL PSALM. ZOS 

me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with 
thy free Spirit." 

For up to the moment in which God himself in- 
terposes with an entire revolution of our being, 
equivalent to a new life out of death, a desperate 
fear holds us in its grasp; we are perfectly certain 
that it is hopeless for us to contend with our fate. 
We may keep pursuing and pursuing, until our 
souls are convulsed with repeated failures; we are 
no nearer deliverance until we are absolutely help- 
less — fallen on the earth, with our faces in the dust. 
Never, till driven out of even the expectation of re- 
lief, and shut up to God, are we on the way to par- 
don for our sins. It is in the brokenness that there 
is the beginning for a fresh strength ; out of weak- 
ness are we to be made strong. See for a moment 
how the Psalmist here reiterates that somewhat 
striking word in his acknowledgment. When one 
feels that his courage is broken, confidence is bro- 
ken, his whole self is broken — broken — then he sud- 
denly discovers he is safe, for he lies in the hollow 
of his Father's hand: "Make me to hear joy and 
gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may 
rejoice. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a 
broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not 
despise." In his swift surrender of all his refuges 
of lies he finds rest, perfect and fearless, trusting in 
the unalterable truth and mercy of God. 

" A guilty, weak, and helpless v/orm, on thy kind arms I fall : 
Be thou my Strength and Righteousness, my Saviour and my 
All !" 

IV. Once more: this prayer is unusually extrava- 



2o6 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

gant in utterance^ and yet entirely legitimate in its 
meaning: ''Wash me, and I shall be whiter than 
snow." It is important that you see how close is 
the connection here between the means and ends. 

Observe the very form of expression: "I shall be 
whiter." David makes us know that he has the 
strongest kind of expectation. He was praying for 
the washing for the sake of the whiteness. He 
felt far away from God, but he propelled his peti- 
tion with the dauntlessness of a determinate faith. 
"Prayer," wrote an old nonconformist once, *'is 
the rope in the belfry; we pull it, and it is sure to 
ring the bell up in heaven. We may not hear the 
strokes, but they sound aloft in the tower." 

This petition is legitimate, because God wants 
the answer as much as man does. Sin is an abomi- 
nation in his sight; it is the one thing he hates 
supremely. He has made provision for an entire 
abolition of it. We may ask for wealth; but whether 
any one will get it or not depends on circumstances; 
we may ask for long life, and God may deem it 
wiser for us to go up into Mt. Nebo and die now^ 
as Moses did, with bodily strength unabated and eye 
not yet grown dim. But if a man penitently asks 
for pardon, he will certainly get it; for God knows 
that sin is never of advantage to anybody, and holi- 
ness is always a thing of grace and of glory. This is 
what the gospel was proclaimed to secure for sinners. 
In the early twilight of history stand three figures, 
which we recognize as the three sons of God, Luci- 
fer, Adam, and Christ. The first of these asked the 
omnipotent Father for his throne; he would rival 



DAVID'S PENITENTIAL PSALM. 207 

him in the might of his power; but for a daring so 
wild he was thrust into the outer darkness. Then 
the second of these sons asked the omniscient Fa- 
ther for his wisdom, for he planned to rival him in 
the limitless reach of his knowledge; but for this 
presumption he was driven forth from his happy- 
home in paradise. But the third of these sons of 
God only opened his lips to say, "Lo, I come; in 
the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight 
to do thy will, O my God !" And when the voice 
was heard coming forth out of the excellent glory, 
it said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am 
well pleased." God exalted that chosen one of his 
three sons above both the others, for he made him 
the Judge of the fallen angels and the Redeemer of 
fallen men. That Son is our intercessor; and God 
loveth him specially, and "hath given all things 
into his hand." So these prayers for pardon will 
surely and always be answered. 

But we are constrained to admit that even a pro- 
vision for answer does not relieve this petition from 
extravagance in form. "Whiter than snow:" what 
can be whiter than snow? It does seem strange to 
use a comparison so extreme. But then we might 
well remember that the reason why snow is so white 
is because it has been lit with that which is whiter. 
Snow is soft and loose and crystal, and the light 
from the sun rests in among its flakes over all its 
glittering surfaces; but the sunshine itself is whiter 
than any snow-rift it falls on. And while a par- 
doned man's sins are cleansed and purified and 
brightened by the sweet shining of Christ, the Sun 



2o8 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

of Righteousness, upon his heart, yet it is certainly 
true that Christ himself is purer than the man can 
be in a world like ours where the dust and soot keep 
falling on his life. To pray to be "whiter than 
snow" is only to ask that one may be as pure as 
the Lord Jesus Christ is pure; indeed, an inspired 
expression has been given to this very thought ; 
"Every man that hath this hope in Him purifietli 
himself even as He is pure." We are not satisfied 
with becoming as white as other heroes and sages 
and leaders and worthies, of whom the world grew 
proud while they lived, and to whom fair monu- 
ments were erected when they died. We long to be 
whiter than such snow as that of an unsullied repu- 
tation or an uncontaminated character; we pray that 
we may be likened to Immanuel himself, the Prince 
of Light. 

Herein is found the explanation of David's neg- 
lect of everything else in his supplication except 
his sin. His guilt lay out before his mind; of this 
he desired to be free, first, most of all. He could 
bear his affliction. He could defend himself from 
the enemies he had made. He could make it right 
with Israel whom he had scandalized. But this 
great, foul stain on his soul he could not endure. No 
one can fail to notice the extreme purity which this 
royal sinner desires, nor the extreme earnestness 
with which he desires purity. He wants to be 
" whiter than snow," because he wants to be white 
as the sunshine of God. 



DAVID'S PSALM OF PARDON. 209 

XXL 

DAVID'S PSALM OF PARDON. 

** Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose 
SIN IS COVERED." — Psalm 2)2:1. 

By its date it is understood that this Psalm of 
David was written certainly after the commission of 
his great sin in the murder of Uriah and the theft 
of his wife. It is entitled "Maschil," and was 
used in the synagogue at the conclusion of the ser- 
vice on the Day of Atonement. The commenta- 
tors tell us that ten of the temple songs bear the 
same designation. One of the chief scholars ren- 
ders the title "an instruction of David;" Gesenius, 
speaking somewhat more simply, names it " a poem 
of David. " It is likely that the margin of our Eng- 
lish Bibles contains the best suggestion of all: "A 
Psalm of David giving instruction." The mean- 
ing of the word Maschil is thus perfectly preserved. 

The quaint Izaak Walton chose the second verse 
of this composition as the motto of his spiritual life. 
In closing the biography of Bishop Sanderson he 
sa3's: " It is now too late to wish that my life may 
be like his, for I am in the eighty-fifth year of my 
age; but I humbly beseech Almighty God that my 
death may be, and I as earnestly beg of every reader 
to say Amen. ' Blessed is the man unto whom the 
Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit 
there is no guile.' " 

It is not necessary to our present exposition that 

From 6amuel to Solomon, 



2IO FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

we attempt an analysis of this sacred song. The 
poetic paragraphs of it fall apart very easily, and 
may be profitably taken np, each in its order. 
- I. To begin with, the Psalmist pictures the pres- 
ent happiness of a pardoned soul: ''Blessed is he 
whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is cov- 
ered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord im- 
putetli not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no 
Sfuile." The reason whv the words here have 
such a familiar sound is found in the fact that we 
have become used to them in the New Testament. 
A thousand years before the Epistle to the Romans 
was written David was singing the same gospel in 
one of his penitential Psalms. For the apostle 
quotes: "Now to him that worketh is the reward 
not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him 
that worketh not, but believeth on him that justi- 
fieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteous- 
ness. Even as David also describeth the blessed- 
ness of the man unto whom God imputeth right- 
eousness without works, saying. Blessed are they 
whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are 
covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord 
will not impute sin." 

When Martin Luther was once asked which 
were the best songs for a Christian, he answered, 
"The Pauline Psalms;" and these he defined as 
Psalms which Paul adduced as his proofs in dis- 
cussing the plan of salvation by grace; among them 
he reckoned this that we now are studvine. Its 
whole significance may be stated in one verse of 
Paul's argument: "Therefore being justified by 



DAVID'S PSALM OF PARDOX. 211 

fiiith, we have peace with God through our Lord 
Jesus Christ." This is not a Messianic Psalm, and 
so has not much to say about Christ ; but it has 
more to say about the gospel of Christ. 

The word "blessed" here is the same and in 
the same form as that which appears at the be- 
ginning of the first Psalm; it is used explosively 
and is in the plural number: "Oh, the blessed- 
nesses of the man whose transs^ression is forfyiven!" 

o o 

Good Robert Leighton observes the grammatical 
peculiarity and cries out: "This is to denote the 
most supreme and perfect blessedness; as the ele- 
phant, to denote its vast bulk, is spoken of as 
behemoth in the plural number! " 

The Psalmist thus draws upon his own experi- 
ence. He had sinned and had been forgiven; he 
now appreciates the wonderful joy of peace and 
safety, and proclaims his discovery and possession 
of it as if with a full and c^rateful heart. *It is for- 
bidden for any one to cover his own sins with 
secrecy; it is commanded that he should have them 
covered for him by the atonement of the Lord Jesus 
Christ: "He that covereth his sins shall not pros- 
per: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall 
have mercy." 

II. Having thus stated the theme of his song, 
David passes on in his thought to review the past. 
The Psalm, therefore, in the second place, rehearses 
the sad experiences of his impenitent life before he 
reached the sense of pardon through grace: "When 
I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my 
roaring all the day long. For day and night thy 



212 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned 
into the drought of summer." 

The figures he employs are very forcible, and 
seem to have been taken from his early history 
when he was a shepherd-boy out on the exposed 
hillsides night and day tending his father's flocks. 
We draw at once the inference that David, even 
after he had received the rebuke from Nathan, did 
not seek to make his peace with God by acknowl- 
edgment of his wickedness. His crimes had been 
simply atrocious; and yet this proud sinner would 
not, at least did not, confess them and implore 
the pardon which alone could bring him relief. 
His conscience meanwhile kept him in a state of 
torturing remorse and chronic alarm. His very 
physical nature succumbed. He shut himself up in 
the silence of his sullen reserve till his bones ached 
with the sighs he repressed: then he went around 
ventine his angruish with roars like those of an in- 
furiated beast caught in a trap. The language is 
almost violent. He must have raged like a brute 
under the pain he felt in his innermost soul. 

But such suffering counts for nothing when it 
comes not from the pangs of a broken heart and a 
contrite spirit, but from the strain of a stubborn will 
which tires itself out with resistance. Indeed a 
sinner's sufferings are never valuable any way. 
Christ's sufferings have merit, but ours do not. 
The imagination is fairly arrested with such a pic- 
ture as this of David, storming around like a wild 
animal in unappeased and unappeasable pain; but 
what eood did it all do? 



DAVID'S PSALM OK PARDON. 213 

It really looks as if, during this wretched year 
that succeeded Nathan's visit, this royal transgres- 
sor had been working himself into illness with his 
compunctions of conscience and his hardness of 
will. Perhaps he brought on a state of feverish 
heat and dryness of his body, and suflfered with dis- 
ease under the pressure of his frightened remorse. 
More likely the expression means that all refresh- 
ment and spiritual enlivening of soul went away 
from him, so that he languished like a tree burned 
and exhausted, with the heat of fierce sunshine wilt- 
ing all moisture out of it. He must have pined in 
uselessness and joylessness of spirit through those 
miserable months. The whole springs of his being 
were dried up; life lost its cheer; there remained 
only a fearful looking for of judgment which might 
fall upon him at any moment. 

HI. Just here the whole tone of the Psalm turns. 
In the third place, David traces the steps of the 
process by which he secured forgiveness and so ob- 
tained relief from his pain : ^'I acknowledged my 
sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I 
said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; 
and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin." 

He began with confessing his guilt. It does not 
seem as if any illustration could be needed to make 
this whole transformation clear to every experience. 
When friends are estrano-ed because of wrong: that 
has fallen between them, when we have done a 
neighbor an injury, when we have been betrayed by 
passion into speaking the wild word which has 
given another pain, our instant relief and our only 



214 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

relief is sure to come with the frank admission, '*I 
did wrong; forgive me!'' It is like rolling ofif a 
stone from our limbs when it is crushing the bones 
and the sinews with intolerable excruciation; every- 
thing rights up at once, and we find we were not in- 
jured half as much as it seemed wdiile we imagined 
we were all going to pieces. Forgiveness arrives in 
answer to confession, and all the old suffering is 
gone. The correspondence is immediate, like that 
of a telephone. Human frankness speaks: ''I ad- 
mit my sin." Divine clemency replies: '' I forgive 
the iniquity." 

The force of the whole Psalm is centred here. 
We are to confess our sins, and God will, for Christ's 
sake, forgive us our sins. This is the doctrine of 
the New Testament found here in the Old. The 
basis of pardon is the atonement made by the Son 
of God when he died upon the cross at Calvary. 
We are not forgiven because we repent and confess, 
bnt because Jesus Christ died: we are forgiven when 
we repent and confess, because that is the condition 
which God has made. 

And we need no intervention of any priest or 
penance between us and God. Christ is the only 
priest recognized in the Bible. There is only one 
mediator, and that is the man Christ Jesus. He 
now sits at the right hand of the Father, and says, 
"No man cometh unto the Father save by me." 
All this talk about confession and absolution and 
priestly mediation is simple folly, hindrance, and 
shame. The story is told in Martin Luther's 
*' Table Talk" of a German penitent in his day 



DAVID'S PSALM OF PARDON. 215 

who offered himself to an Italian ecclesiastic for 
penance and acknowledged his crime. He was ab- 
solved, promising to keep a secret of what w^as 
bestowed upon him until he had reached home; 
w'hereupon he received a leg of the ass on which 
Jesus rode into Jerusalem, neatly bound up in silk. 
Of this the man boasted so loudly when he reached 
the Rhine that four of his old comrades suddenly 
came out from their promised secrecy too; they 
showed how they had been to Rome also, and each 
had gained a leg of the same animal with the same 
promise of reserve. With great wonder therefore 
they were laughed at by their neighbors, for thus 
their journey far away for pardon had proved that 
one beast had five legs! Oh, why will wise men 
suffer themselves to be so cheated and mocked, 
when the Word of God continually speaks with such 
clearness of w^arning: "The blood of Jesus Christ 
his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that 
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth 
is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful 
and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us 
from all unrighteousness." 

IV. In the fourth place, the Psalmist offers the 
grand results of his restoration to all who would 
come and take them on the same easy conditions: 
" For this shall every one that is godly pray unto 
thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in 
the floods of great w^aters they shall not come nigh 
unto him. Thou art my hiding-place; thou shalt 
preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me 
about with songs of deliverance." 



2l6 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

Protection and prosperity were the chief spirit- 
ual advantages he claims to have received; and he 
says that any one can have them by the asking; 
each sinner must pray, and must not be dilatory 
about it. David intimates that there may come a 
moment when the Spirit of grace is going to with- 
draw; and then the guilty man might learn that it 
was too late for God to be found. But to any one 
who would now confess and ask for pardon, grace 
would prove accessible and sufficient. The ever- 
lasting God would be a hiding-place to him, and 
put into his mouth a new song full of gladness, the 
song of a soul thoroughly redeemed from sin. 

There is nothing in all this vain world that can 
satisfy a soul except the mercy and companionship 
of a^pardoning God. All else leads only to despair. 
I have jnst read of a distinguished lady who came 
to the height of what people call wealth and fortune. 
She built a magnificent palace for her residence, 
and called it "Satis House:" that is. Satisfaction 
House: for she said she expected to be perfectly 
happy in it all the rest of her days. But she found 
that money could not buy rest; she grew tired and 
lonely; and in the end the neighbors came to find 
her, and she had hanged herself in the beautiful 
" Satis House." 

Bnt God has never failed to satisfy completely 
every one who has come to him with penitent con- 
fession, accepted the free pardon, and so rested upon 
him with unbroken trust. Indeed, the new life is 
more far than a mere restoration. Making up after 
estrangement always increases the affection of 



DAVID'S PSAI.M OF PARDON. 217 

friends. No joy is like that wliicli a saved sinner 
feels when he knows what God has done for him 
and now is 2:oinof to be to him in all the inexhausti- 
ble future of love. A converted Indian was once 
asked, "What has your Maker done for you ?" He 
took a worm on the path and placed some straw all 
around it in a circle; then he set fire to the heap. 
The creature began to suffer from the heat, and en- 
deavored to escape, but without avail, for the flame 
was on every side, whichever way it turned. But in 
the midst of the fright and agony the worm show^ed, 
suddenly the Indian opened a part of the blazing 
ring and it crept out into peace and safety. * ' That, ' ' 
said this simple son of the forest, " is what Christ, 
God's Son, has done for me; the flames of hell w^ere 
gathering around me when Jesus came and set me 
free!" 

V. Finally, in this Psalm which records the 
peace that David attained through God's pardoning 
grace, he repeats for others the counsels he received 
for his future life and conduct from his reconciled 
God. The rest of the Psalm is highly dramatic. 
He represents Jehovah as speaking to him in per- 
son, almost as if he heard a mysterious voice calling 
to him out in the air overhead with the words of 
confident love. 

This remarkable address begins with a promise: 

*'I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way 

which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine 

eye." The Almighty engages to furnish guidance 

to the pardoned believer with the mere glance of 

his eye, such as dear parents are wont to bestow in 

10 



2l8 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

answer to tlie upward look of their delicate and lov- 
ing children. 

Then with this promise comes a precept like- 
wise: " Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, 
which have no understanding; whose mouth must 
be held in with bit and bridle lest they come near 
unto thee." Of all creatures the mule is said to be 
the most obstinate and rigid. The horse is dull 
enough, the mule is hopeless; both have to be 
taught and held by harness of bridle and bit lest 
they turn upon the hand that feeds them. The 
Lord pleads with his children that they will not 
grow stupid and brutal in their service so as to need 
curbing and spurring. 

To enforce this he adds another warning: 
*' Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that 
trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him 
about." He gives fair and open caution as to the 
melancholy results of any return to courses of sin 
when one has once been pardoned and restored. 

And the voice of God closes its sweet communi- 
cation with an exhortation that the believer should 
come home to his comfort and enjoy his privileges: 
"Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: 
and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart." 
It may interest you to listen to just a little story told 
of Alexander Peden, as we end the study of this 
Psalm. He was the old Covenanter who wandered 
before his enemies for years in the south of Scotland. 
His prayer was often that God would "cast the 
skirt of his cloak over him;" and more than once, 
when pressed by the troopers out on the moors 



DAVID'S PSALM OF PARDON. 219 

where he could find no hiding-place, he would have 
the mists strangely grouped around him, and so 
even the fogs saved his life. These fogs and mists 
he used to call "snow and vapors fulfilling God's 
word." Once on a time, when he and his trusty 
comrades were brought to a breathless stand, they 
crept into a sheep-house and a few went to sleep. 
Alexander Peden rose early, and went up by the 
burnside and stayed long. When he came in he sat 
quiet, and only broke the silence after a while sing- 
ing this thirty-second Psalm, from the seventh 
verse through to the end. As he finished, he re- 
peated the seventh verse over again, and then he 
said: '* These are sweet lines which I got at the 
burnside this morning, and I will get more to mor- 
row, and so we shall get daily provisions: 

" Thou art my hiding-place ; thou shalt from trouble keep me 

free ; 
Thou with songs of deliverance about shalt compass me : 
Ye righteous, in the Lord be glad, in him do ye rejoice ; 
All ye that upright are in heart, for joy lift up your voice." 



220 FROM SAMUElv TO SOLOMON. 



XXII. 
THE REBELLION OF ABSALOM. 

"And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts 
OF the men of Israel are after Absalom." — 2 Sam. 15 : 13. 

It would not be exactly generous, perhaps, for us 
in easier times to rejoice over another's adversity, 
but it is certainly a happy thing for the church in 
all ages that the periods of sore disaster for David 
were most prolific of Psalms which have brought 
peace to many sufferers since. The heading of that 
one which is numbered as the third in our Psalter 
is a motto which might be placed at the head of 
many others also; for each was "a Psalm of David, 
when he fled from Absalom his son." Evidently 
this was a period of deep solicitude as well as of 
high poetic inspiration. Things fell down from 
their plane of happiness and success, and had to be 
adjusted in painful recollection of what was better 
and brighter. As we often say: "Sorrow's crown 
of sorrow is remembering happier things." 

But the most remarkable among these Psalms 
are the sixty-ninth and the hundred and ninth; for 
in the first of these have been spoken the words 
which we think our Lord repeated while on the 
cross, and sought to fulfil as a prophecy of his 
thirsting. He certainly said, "I thirst," and the 
evangelist has added the singular explanation of so 
personal a complaint; we are told in the narrative 
that he did this "that the Scripture might be ful- 



THE REBELLION OF ABSALOM. 221 

filled;" and the Scripture was written by David in 
this time of his sorrow and shame when Absalom 
was seeking to dethrone him. Think how strange 
such words sound when referred to Jesus Christ, yet 
spoken over a thousand years before he was cruci- 
fied: "They gave me also gall for my meat; and in 
my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." 

And then in the other Psalm occur the words 
which were applied by the apostles when they tried 
to fill the place made vacant by the traitorous defec- 
tion of Judas; it is likely that reference was made in 
this instance also to the treason of Ahithophel; but 
there is significance in the use which was given it 
in that crisis of the New Testament church: "Let 
his days be few; and let another take his ofiice." 

I. Let us take up the story of this wretched 
rebellion just as a close reading of the sacred narra- 
tive gives it to us. We shall find a vivid illustration 
of certain characteristics of this son of David. 

I. Notice, in the beginning, that Absalom's con- 
duct beo:an in the exercise of the basest ing-ratitude. 
Somewhere along in those dreadful months between 
David's sin and his repentance Absalom's eldest 
brother committed an outrage of the vilest sort 
against his sister Tamar. David visited upon him 
all that was possible in the private explosion of his 
wrath; but he could not punish him publicly, for the 
simplest reason in the world: his son had done noth- 
ing more than his father had, in full view of the 
nation, just done before him. But in this juncture 
it was that Absalom constituted himself the cham- 
pion of his sister's honor. This long-haired youth 



223 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

felt the shame of the family, and possibly thought 
he could wash out the stain with the crimson blood 
of a murder. He assassinated Amnon at a banquet, 
and then fled to his grandfather's city Geshur for a 
refuge. There he remained for some years; the 
popular soldier Joab caused the woman of Tekoa to 
go to David with a parable and an entreaty; and the 
king reluctantly permitted his son to return to Jeru- 
salem, but he would not meet him in the palace. 
That gave Absalom a chance again. And now we 
have two lessons to learn at once. 

One is this: wJiat a man sows he must also reap, 
David's boys divided up David's crimes between 
them, and repeated his guilt there under his own 
roof. The king had betrayed Uriah's wife, and 
then slain Uriah: Amnon reproduced the betraying, 
and Absalom reproduced the murder. That was an 
instance of sowing the wind and reaping the whirl- 
wind. It is wise to remember that harvests are 
greater than seed. It is just as well to look along 
the life of David, when we see so potent a monarch 
in such floods of tears. This king had nobody to 
thank for his troubles but himself He sowed the 
wind while he was seeking Absalom's mother to 
wife, against the law which forbade him to marry a 
Canaanite; he had betrayed Bathsheba and reared 
Absalom in misgovernment; he was reaping vast 
whirlwinds of anguish now in the death he de- 
plored, the rebellion he felt, the shame which 
humiliated him, and the losses which he endured. 

The second lesson is, tJiere is no gain in disci^ 
flitte tinlcss it leaves behind it a better heart. ' ' Even 



THE REBELLION OF ABSALOM. 223 

after a shipwreck," the old philosopher Seneca 
remarks, "there are hosts who still will seek the 
sea." Here was Absalom, just returned from a 
flight into the outside world for refuge, punished 
with continued banishment for his miserable crime 
in his father's house, forbidden a sight of the king's 
face for two whole years, now restored by a generos- 
ity as kind as it was religious, and yet using the 
first opportunity he had of starting a rebellion anew. 
It is not for any man to say that affliction sanctifies; 
of itself it sours a heart which is not sanctified be- 
forehand. And he has lost much who has lost a 
discipline at God's hand; he has had all the weary 
pain of it without any of the good; he has had the 
roughness of the ploughing without any of the fruit 
from the furrows. 

2. But now, in the second place, we perceive 
that this rebellion disclosed itself in the mere show 
of personal vanity. That is the only significance of 
such gorgeousness of equipage, and a half a hundred 
men to run before this conceited creature Absalom's 
chariot. There is not a sign of patriotism in his 
course. He had no case in starting an uprising in 
his father's realm; he was a self-seeker of the lowest 
degree. His ostentation, and the crowds who were 
attracted by it when he appeared on the street, must 
have arrested David's attention in a measure. For 
expressions occur in some Psalms which show his 
mind was becoming disturbed. We think w^e detect 
in his singing a subtle sense of some new force lev- 
elling itself against him; the music is plaintive, as if 
he were w^orried. But he keeps up courage; he is 



224 FROM SAMUEI. TO SOLOMON. 

not going to yield to violence. His fears and liis 
faith find vent sometimes all at once: "Lord, how 
are they increased that trouble me! many are they 
that rise up against me. I will not be afraid of ten 
thousands of people that have set themselves against 
me round about." 

So here we have another lesson to learn. In this 
instance it is the epistle which gives it to the Psalm: 
all true leadership is taiigJit by the discipline of endur- 
ance under fierce distress. It was with David as with 
Jesus Christ; he that is to be a Captain of sal- 
vation unto God's people must consent, as our 
divine Saviour consented, to be made "perfect 
through suffering." We sing David's songs of 
courage without any conception of the pain of him 
who was preparing them for us. They receive 
new significance when we recall the fact that real 
trouble was driving him away from his palace, and 
his boy, Absalom, the beloved and trusted one, was 
the chief in insurrection. The fifty-fifth Psalm 
seems like a fresh inspiration when we know this: 
"And I said, Oh, that I had wings like a dove! for 
then would I fly away and be at rest. For it was 
not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have 
borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did 
magnify himself against me; then I would have hid 
myself from him: but it was thou, a man mine equal, 
my guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet 
counsel together, and walked unto the house of God 
in company." Many a broken-hearted Christian 
has cried out for "wings like a dove" who has not 
happened to consider that this king gained hisexpe- 



THE REBELLION OF ABSALOM. 225 

riences iu the midnight while he was climbing up 
the slopes of the Mount of Olives, pursued by the 
army of his ungrateful son. That is what gives a 
sacred song like this its power; the suffering brought 
the leadership. 

3. Once more: we see that this outbreak of Ab- 
salom was conducted with the hypocrisies of mali- 
cious deceit. How plausibly the man talked; how 
venomous were his insinuations; how false were his 
kisses; yet thus it was that he won the people's 
hearts and undermined his father's throne. David 
understood it at the last, and described it in the 
song he sang as he wandered forth an exile in his 
own city: " The words of his mouth were smoother 
than butter, but war was in his heart: his words 
were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords." 

The lesson that comes to us just here is rather 
commonplace, but it may have its help to offer to 
some who are relying upon conspicuous graces: there 
can be ?io dependence on mere personal advantages unless 
they are put to a serviceable use. The record which is 
familiar to us all reminds us of the old commenda- 
tions of Saul in the day when he came out before the 
people a head and shoulders above any one of those 
who cried, "God save the king! " We have a kind- 
ling picture of Absalom's attractions of person and 
form: "But in all Israel there was none to be so 
much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole 
of his foot even to the crown of his head there was 
no blemish in him. And when he polled his head 
(for it was at every year's end that he polled it; 
because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he 

Prom Samuel to Solomou. IQ^ 



226 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

polled it), he weighed the hair of his head at two 
hundred shekels after the king's weight." Such 
elements of popularity as kingly looks and a fine 
presence are not to be derided or despised. But if 
one swells his heart with vanity and puffs his soul 
with wild conceits because his hair is heavy and 
his step light, there is no manhood in the posses- 
sion. The old honest historian of the Greeks says 
with a creditable frankness that Themistocles was 
able to make his insipid son, Cleophantes, a good 
horseman, but he failed in every particular when 
he endeavored to make him a good man. And 
that same failure has been reached a great many 
times since. 

4. In the fourth place, we notice that this insur- 
rection was relentlessly continued through a long 
period of time. Not "forty years" surely, as one 
of the verses seems to say; such a chapter can be 
found neither in David's nor in Absalom's bi- 
ography. It is impossible to put the reckoning 
anywhere. Here occurs the mention of a numeral 
which it is difficult to manage; not even the wis- 
dom of the new Revision avails to give relief, for 
the word is not displaced there, and the margin is 
content to tell us what we knew before. Josephus 
states the time, with the authority of the Syriac and 
the Arabic version behind him, as being four years 
instead of forty. And that is long enough certainly 
for an ungrateful son to continue mischievously to 
plot against his father in so villanous a way. That 
son of David's admiration and love lived under the 
palace roof; he was tolerated because he was of the 



THE REBELLION OF ABSALOM. 22/ 

royal family. He traded upon the fact that he was 
his father's darling, and no living man would dare 
to harm him. Such a space of prolonged trickery 
and treachery is sufficient to show the contemptible 
soul of Absalom. 

There can be no value in a 7ioble lineae^e unless the 
position is employed nobly. Absalom had nothing to 
do with the item of his birth ; it would be a credit 
to him or a shame according to what he should do 
with it. Honor and wealth from no condition rise. 
The Bible makes short work with primogeniture ; 
in almost every instance the chieftainship goes away 
from the sons earliest born. Later history is sug- 
gestive. Cleanthes lived by w^atering gardens ; 
Pythagoras was the child of a silversmith ; Eurip- 
ides was brought up to help his brothers till the 
fields ; Demosthenes was the son of a cutler ; Vir- 
gil's father was a potter. There is no pretension 
more impertinent than that which is forcing itself 
forward on the merits of mere parentage and 
position. 

5. Once more: we observe that this w^ild rebel- 
lion is consummated at last with a lie in the name of 
relio-ion. This was at once the meanest and the 
shrewdest of all Absalom's subterfuges. He knew 
how sorely his father had been wont to bewail his 
want of piety ; he understood how pleased he would 
be with such signs of improvement in his son. In 
order to cover his absence from suspicion, and put 
David off his guard in Jerusalem, he trumped up 
this pretext of an old vow. Then he withdrew to 
his own birthplace, Hebron, and from there de- 



228 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

spatched a series of trumpeters, a sort of relay 
of heralds, along the roads, each ordered to pro- 
claim that he was reigning instead of David — 
actually established in power in the town which 
used to be the national capital. 

From Hebron he also sent back for Ahithophel, 
the best counsellor David had in his government, 
and a man of utmost wisdom and adroit resources. 
Bathsheba, whom David had maltreated, was his 
granddaughter : he was chill in his loyalty, but 
really the strongest partisan in the nation. The 
defection of this adviser seems to have wounded 
David intensely. He cries out with pain; the forty- 
second Psalm, written at this period, is full of a 
sense of bereavement and betrayal, cheered only by 
his trust: "O my God, my soul is cast down within 
me ; therefore will I remember thee from the land 
of Jordan and of the Hermonites, from the hill 
Mizar. Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy 
waterspouts; all thy waves and thy billows are 
gone over me. ' ' 

Our lesson as before is very simple: God some- 
times leaves zvicked people to the retribution of apparent 
sicccess. Absalom comes to Jerusalem, is actually 
crowned as king, has a few military victories; then 
his downfall is swift and heavy; the triumph of 
traitors is short. In a part of one year is dissipated 
all the fortune of the four years the treacherous son 
had plotted against his father. Ahithophel closes 
his career with a suicide, and erelong the rebellion 
is ended; David sits in his throne and sings brighter 
songs even while he mourns in his heart. 



THE REBELLION OF ABSALOM. 229 

IL But let us now move forward a step; we can 
mention, in the second place, a few reflections con- 
cerning the death which this rebel prince died. 
The lessons continue to grow deeper. 

I. There is a limit beyond which patience^ both 
hwnan and divine^ cannot be expected to go. When 
the heart of this ro3^al ingrate became fixed in his 
wickedness, the Lord simply withdrew from all in- 
terposition; so he was left to his fate; he died the 
rebel he had lived. Remember, this man Joab 
had been for years the frankest, the truest, the 
steadiest friend Absalom ever had. He pleaded 
w^ith his father for his restoration while he was 
banished: he personally went after him to bring 
him to the palace. But when this creature turned 
against everything honest, Joab openly pulled away 
from his fortunes. For a while he was forbearing, 
as if the old soldier longed for him to come into a 
better mind; and perhaps he remembered how w^ell 
the king loved him. A day came, however, in 
which there could be no m^ore toleration of war: 
*' And Absalom rode upon his mule, and the mule 
went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his 
head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up 
between the heaven and the earth; and the mule 
that was under him went on. And a certain man 
saw it, and told Joab, and said. Behold, I saw Ab- 
salom hanging in an oak. And Joab said unto the 
man that told him. And, behold, thou sawest it, 
and why didst thou not smite him there to the 
ground ? and I would have given thee ten pieces of 
silver and a girdle. And the man said unto Joab, 



230 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

Though I should receive a thousand pieces of silver 
in my hand, yet would I not put forth my hand 
against the king's son. Then said Joab, I may 
not tarry thus with thee. And he took three darts 
in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of 
Absalom, while he was yet alive in the midst of 
the oak.'' 

So this picturesque ending of Absalom's career 
is as quaint and as sad as it is terrible. Caught by 
his beautiful hair in the tangled branches of an oak- 
tree, under which his frightened mule hurried him 
as he ran away from the defeat of his troops, there 
he stuck, between heaven and earth. Friends swept 
by, but no favorite cared for him in his despair; the 
mule ran right on, precisely as if it still kept a 
rider: and no scene in the Bible awakes more stern 
comment than this, when God holds up a king's 
son in the air, while Joab, the king's commander, 
thrusts three javelins straight through his heart, 
^' while he was yet alive. " Here is an inspired warn- 
ing: "Some men's sins are open beforehand, going 
before to judgment; and some men they follow after." 

2. Jr/u'H a false leader falls ^ he drags dozvfi his 
favorites in the failure. The most interesting feature 
of this story has always been the immediateness 
with which the rebellion subsided when those 
darts went through Absalom's heart. What ulti- 
mately became of those who had perilled all their 
fortunes upon his success, we are not informed. 
Their hopes failed; they had attributed many ex- 
cellences to that young and beautiful prince; 
possibly they had not studied the future carefully, 



THE REBELLION OK ABSALOM. 23 1 

into the abysses of wliicli they had now plnnged. 
Hereafter they were outk\ws and wanderers. There 
is nothing men are so careless about, and yet noth- 
ing men are so often ruined by, as the wrong 
choice of leaders, in the Church and the State alike. 
Nothinof in all this delusive ao^e of ours can be 
trusted but truth and uprightness and justice. "The 
world passeth away and the lust thereof, but he 
that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." 

3. There can be no advantage in having ' ' a fair 
chance ' ' /;/ life unless one hastens to improve it for the 
good of others. The fact is, we instinctively hold 
this man Absalom responsible all the more sternly 
because he had opportunities so fair and abused 
them so basely. His sin was the more heinous on 
account of his conspicuous position. His father 
was a doting and affectionate parent even to weak- 
ness; to outrage such love was quite beyond the 
limit of forgiveness, for there was nothing to start 
the slightest provocation to it. The great critic 
Ruskin draws a suQfQfestive line of discrimination: 
"It would be well if moralists less frequently con- 
fused the greatness of sin with its unpardonableness; 
the two characteristics are altogether distinct. The 
greatn-ess of a fault depends, partly upon the nature 
of the person against whom it is committed, partly 
upon the extent of its consequences; its pardon- 
ableness depends, humanly speaking, upon the 
degree of temptation which has led to it." On this 
basis of decision Absalom stands convicted of guilt 
for which no apology could be received; he simply 
perverted the chances that God's providence gave 



232 FROM SAMUEIv TO SOLOMON. 

lilni into lilndrance and wrongs to others. Absalom 
also had come to the gathering of his bad harvests. 
For he had begun with murder, and now by a 
murder he was likewise dying; he had deceived his 
friends and betrayed his adherents in a reckless 
selfishness, and now they betrayed him in turn, 
when it was death to desert his cause; he had 
hated his followers in their fidelity; now he died 
detested, without a sigh among them: "And they 
took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the 
wood, and laid a very great heap of stones upon 
him: and all Israel fled every one to his tent." 

4. TJie Jioiir of retribution is likely to be an hour of 
melancholy review. Confidence in the successful 
issue of evil purposes only deepens the humiliation 
of defeat. There is even to this day pointed out 
in the valley close by Jerusalem^ a lofty structure 
of stone called "Absalom's Tomb." The Scrip- 
ture has given us a hint concerning its true origin, 
but not of its date: " Now Absalom in his lifetime 
had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which 
is in the king's dale: for he said, I have no son to 
keep my name in remembrance: and he called the 
pillar after his own name: and it is called unto this 
day, Absalom's place." That particular structure 
is perhaps replaced by this: tradition says it is not 
a sepulchre, but a monument; and Josephus goes 
so far as to insist that it was called "Absalom's 
Hand," and bore at its summit a hand as the sym- 
bol of power and victory. The egregiously vain 
rebel, in full and fond anticipation of triumph over 
his father in the battle, had reared this ostentatious 



THK REBELLION OF ABSALOM. 233 

pillar to commemorate his victory before he won it. 
We wonder how the swift thouglits surged through 
his aching head as he hung in the tree and remem- 
bered the folly of his h-ope. The most dreadful 
pain of a man's career comes when he is still on 
the field of his existence, but his life is all finished. 
He must look over the whole line of his history, 
and find nothing for comfort. Ambition which is 
simply for self, and not for God or truth or hope or 
heaven, is a fateful crime. By-and-by it makes a 
hateful master. Sometimes it would be well for 
even the best of us to read over the lamentation of 
Rodrigo, in old chivalric days: 

" Last night I was the king of Spain; to-day no king am I : 
Last night fair castles held my train; to-night where shall 

Hie? 
Last night a hundred pages bold did serve me on their knee ; 
To-night not one I call mine own, not one pertains to me ! " 

5. A wicked man is reckoned according to his de- 
serts when history makes iip its Jinal verdict. The 
world know^s its heroes: "the memory of the just 
is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot." 
In a brief time that monument in the kins^'s vale 
by the side of the Kidron had become a derision 
and a mockery. We now find the men and boys 
always casting stones against the battered structure, 
to show their utter contempt for a rebellious child; 
the memorial has become the symbol of perpetual 
shame. 



234 FROM SAMUKI. TO SOLOMON. 



XXIII. 

MOURNING FOR ABSALOM. 

"And the king was much moved, and went up to the cham- 
ber OVER THE GATE, AND WEPT; AND AS HE WENT, THUS HE 

said: O mv son Absalom! my son, my son Absalom ! would 

God I HAD DIED for THEE, O AbSALOM, MY SON, MY SON ! " — 

2 Sam. iS : 33. 

After the death of Absalom and the defeat of 
his forces in the field — which of course was the end 
of the rebellion — there remained nothinof more than 
the communication of the news of the victory to 
King David. Ordinarily this would have been a 
post of honor that any joyous soldier would have 
hastened to fill at once. But now the whole affair 
was complicated by the fact of Joab's vengeance on 
the prince whose safety David had specially ordered 
to be regarded. Absalom was dead; and how to 
break the tidings becomingly was what was disturb- 
ing the minds of them all. Just at this moment 
one of the eager men came with a proposal: " Then 
said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, Let me now nm, 
and bear the king tidings, how that the Lord hath 
avenged him. of his enemies. And Joab said unto 
him, Thou shalt not bear tidings this day, but thou 
shalt bear tidings another day; but this day thou 
shalt bear no tidings, because the king's son is dead. 
Then said Joab to Cushi, Go, tell the king what 
thou hast seen. And Cushi bowed himself unto 
Joab, and ran." 



MOURNING FOR ABSAI^OM. 235 

]\Iany conjectures have been hazarded by com- 
mentators as to Joab's reason in holding back this 
first soldier and substituting another man in his 
stead: it is likely that the plainest explanation is 
the best. The tidings were most perilous to carry. 
Kines are never well constrained in moments of 
exciting trouble. David had shown how danger- 
ous it was to bring news to him which would be un- 
welcome, when he heard of the death of Saul and 
Jonathan. Now Ahimaaz was the son of Zadok, 
the high priest of God, and so himself of sacerdotal 
lineage and rank ; but this unknown man Cushi 
was only an Ethiopian, and perhaps a slave. If 
David slew him with his scimetar, it would count 
less perhaps than if a priest should feel the royal 
stroke in an instant of wrath. 

Still, Ahimaaz persisted in having his share in 
the errand. Soon after the blackamoor had gone 
he pleaded for his chances: "Then said Ahimaaz 
the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, But howsoever, 
let me, I pray thee, also run after Cushi. And Joab 
said, Wherefore wait thou run, my son, seeing that 
thou hast no tidings ready ? But howsoever, said 
he, let me run. And he said unto him, Run. Then 
Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran 
Cushi. '» 

Now the scene suddenly shifts, and the narra- 
tive shows us the king waiting with eyes and ears 
to gain knowledge of Absalom. It is pathetic to 
notice his reasoning; he sees a single runner; that 
means tidings: then he sees another; that means 
good news. Cushi is doing his duty bravely, but 



236 FROM SAMUEL TO SOI.OMON. 

Ahimaaz now has permission to follow, and he 
proves the swifter footman: so Ahimaaz begins the 
parley. Startled, however, by that first question 
of David, which was about — not the victory at all — 
but about the safety of his beloved son, this priest 
evades the answer, and then his abrupt dismissal 
makes way for honest black Cushi to come up in 
his turn. Without waiting for a question, he breath- 
lessly tells the king of the victory. But David has 
only one thought still: ''And David sat between 
the two gates; and the watchman went up to the 
roof over the gate unto the wall, and lifted up his 
eyes, and looked, and behold a man running alone. 
And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man 
Absalom safe ? And Cushi answered, The enemies 
of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee 
to do thee hurt, be as that young man is.'' 

So now the whole truth was told: the sou of 
much love was no longer a traitor, but was no longer 
alive. This was all that the fond and doting king 
could open his mind to receive on such a subject. 
His boy was no more. He burst into a cry of agony, 
a ereat unreasoninir, uncomforted, inconsiderate cry 
of human pain: " And the king was much moved, 
and went up to the chamber over the gate, and 
wept; and as he went, thus he said: O my son Ab- 
salom! mv son, my son Absalom! would God I had 
died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!" 

It is this manifestation of feeling which becomes 
instructive to all God's children. Sooner or later 
we all fall into a stress of sorrow. How shall we 
meet our heavy experiences? It may teach us to 



MOURNING FOR ABSALOM. 237 

moderate our sensibilities mucli just to study a dem- 
onstration so conspicuous as this of the man who 
wrote large jDortions of the most comforting Psalms, 
but w^ho appears strangely unhelped. We reach 
the series of reflections, with which we may fitly 
close the study of the story, concerning the mourn- 
ing made for this rebel prince by his father. Indeed, 
we do not discover that he was very seriously 
mourned by anybody else. 

I. For even a fond parent^ it is very weak to grieve 
more for a loss than for the crime which brought it on. 
This wild outcry of David is essentially mistaken 
in its sentiment. That he was patient was evident 
enough ; but that he saw God's hand avenging 
WTongs done against God, and launching the retribu- 
tions of the divine law upon an offender who had 
defied God, nowhere appears. The utterance of 
grief he makes assumes only soreness and pain. 
Absalom was his favorite; this downfall had come 
suddenly; the catastrophe was remediless. His boy 
had died in the act of rebellion against his father 
and his king. But not even a word of sorrow or 
shame, or humiliation passes his lips. Sometimes 
mourning reaches so supreme a height of personal 
grief as that it is mere egotism and tends towards 
sheer selfishness. 

Now let us be careful to be always just, and let 
us be intelligent as to what is the exact lesson here. 
Heed might well be paid to a thoughtful caution of 
Chateaubriand when he says: "One can never be 
the judge of another's grief; that which is a sorrow 
to one, to another may be joy. Let us not dispute 



238 FROM SAMUEI. TO SOLOMON. 

with any one concerning the reality of his suffer- 
ings; it is with sorrow as with countries — each man 
has his own." This is true: a sincere pity swells 
every heart that tries to comprehend so burdensome 
a trial as this of the king. But what we feel needs 
an explanation is the fact that this man once wrote 
a verse which told us what he should do first when 
he should be overwhelmed: " Hear my cry, O God; 
attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth 
will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed; 
lead me to the rock that is hio^her than I." But 
instead of this, he cries unto his dead child. He 
does not say, "O God, my Father!" he says, *'0 
Absalom, my son, my son!" 

And the issue which is raised is this: a true 
Christian opens his heart to receive comfort, not 
w^hen he blindly and passionately explodes into out- 
cries of pain, but when he draws nigh to God and 
pleads for help. It does not follow that every 
trouble has sprung directly out of sin, as this be- 
reavement of David certainly did, but that each 
child of God ought to inquire diligently whether 
the Lord is sending an inquisition for wrong. 

2. It is better to live hoitestly for one's ehildre?t 
thaftjiist to wish to die for tJiem wheii their retribution 
comes. The fact is, we miss the proper feelings of 
the occasion here in David's form of expression. His 
language is extravagant; it was very rough to tell 
those soldiers, who had imperilled their lives again 
and again that day to sustain his kingdom, that he 
wished a gracious providence had taken his life in- 
stead of that of the chief rebel they had fought. 



MOURNING rOR AESAI.O.AI. 239 

Think how almost brutal it was to say that he 
would have died happy if only Absalom were alive 
again! With that creature for a king, what would 
have become of the kingdom? A mere sense of 
personal bereavement moved him. He became un- 
manly, unknightly, and inconsiderate. 

But -our main trouble must be found with the 
absence of every sort and measure of self-examina- 
tion in David; he sends not one glance of his eye 
backwards over those vast mistakes of the past 
which he had committed in rearing that child. He 
makes no allusion to an offended God, except to 
point his reckless asseveration with the mention of 
his name. One would think that the king must 
have had, even in these successes, some misorivino- 
now and then; something like those thoughtful ac- 
knowledgments which history records in the dying 
utterance of William the Conqueror: *' Although 
human ambition rejoices in such triumphs, I am 
nevertheless seized with an unquiet terror when I 
think that, in all these actions of mine, cruelty 
marched with boldness." We wish David had lived 
always for Absalom's instruction and mourned a 
little less for his defeat. We wish he had thought 
of those actions of his own life in which wickedness 
had marched with hardness of cruelty to Solomon's 
mother and Bathsheba's husband, as his son was 
growing up and becoming sadly like him in his 
crime. For David had other children around him 
increasing in years; it would have given him help in 
bringing them on better if he had been more peni- 
tent for the dreadful failure made with Absalom. 



240 FROM SAM UK I. TO SOLOMON. 

"' Life is strong : and still 
Boat's with its currents onward us who Hiin 
Would linger where our treasures have gone down, 
Ti;ough but to mark the ripple on the wave, 
The small disturbing eddies that betray 
The place of shipwreck : life is strong, and still 
Bears onward to new tasks and sorrows now. 
Whether wo will or no." 

3. Public duiit's sliouiJ cJiak the iudul^t'rice of 
ftcisY fcrsotial g^riifs. We all admit that the human 
feelings of the king in an instance so severe is pa- 
thetic and poetic. But at that time an awful field 
of blood was wild with cries of desperate pain from 
the dying and around the dead. Twenty thous;uid 
of Israel's loyal soldiers lay on the plain of battle; 
and all that David seemed to care about it was that 
his boy Absalom was killed likewise: ''The peo- 
ple of Israel were slain before the servants of 
David, and there was there a great slaughter that 
day of twenty thousand men. For the battle was 
there scattered over the face of all the country: and 
the wood devoured more people that day than the 
sword devoured. ' ' 

It does one gcx)d to read those brave words of the 
devoted warrior Joab in a rebuke; they sound like 
the rush of a cool breeze: *' And it was told Ja\b, 
Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Absa- 
lom. And the victory that day was turned into 
mourning unto all the people: for the people heard 
say that day how the king was grieved for his son. 
And the people gat them by stealth that day into 
the city, as people being ashamed steal away when 
thev flee in battle. But the kiui^- covered his face, 



MOURNING FOR ABSAl^OM. 241 

and the king cried with a lond voice, O my son 
Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son! And Joab 
came into the house to the king, and said, Thou 
hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, 
which this day have saved thy life, and the lives of 
thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy 
wives, and the lives of thy concubines; in that 
thou lovest thine enemies and hatest thy friends: 
for thou hast declared this day that thou regardest 
neither princes nor servants: for this day I perceive 
that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this 
day, then it had pleased thee well. Now therefore 
arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto thy ser- 
vants: for I swear by the Lord, if thou go not forth, 
there will not tarry one with thee this nioht: and 
that will be worse unto thee than all the evil that 
befell thee from thy youth until uow. Then the 
king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told 
unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth 
sit in the gate. And all the people came before the 
king: for Israel had fled every man to his tent." 

Once we saw in the palace at Amsterdam a bas- 
relief representing the sternness of the ancient Bru- 
tus. Everybody recalls the classic story of the 
Roman ruler whose two sons, Titus and Tiberius, 
were among the conspirators that planned the 
overturning of the government. He sat in judgment 
upon the enemies that had threatened the realm; 
nor did he hesitate to do the justice they deserved 
upon all alike. He caused those two sons "to be 
scourged with rods, in accordance with the law, 
and then beheaded by the lictors in the forum, and 

From Saniiii'l to Solomon. 1 1 



242 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMOX. 

he neither turned aside his eyes nor shed any tears 
over them, for they had been false unto their coun- 
try and had offended against the law/' And then the 
well-known dictum of his was pronounced, which 
these patriotic Dutchmen have perpetuated in their 
king's judgment-hall: "A man may have many 
more children, but never can have but one country, 
even that which gave him birth." David certainly 
had very little of that firm justice which made Lu- 
cius Junius Brutus historic. 

4. TJie death of an infant child may qnite possibly 
beco7ne a greater comfort to its parents than the rebel- 
lions life of aftother child who grows tip to be a pain 
afid a shame for ever. The counsel was long ago 
given to bereaved Christians by one who under- 
stood what it was to be in mourning: " Do not ask 
that the enveloping cloud be ever entirely taken up 
from your home; it never will be; but it may be- 
come so luminously transparent that you can see 
bricrht stars throug:!! it." When David's little 
child in earlier times was stricken with death, he 
fell down heavily sorrowing over the affliction be- 
fore the Lord; but he said in wise and strong confi- 
dence of a submissive faith, " I shall go to him, but 
he will not return to me." But now he could only 
pour out hopeless wails of grief; for Absalom ap- 
peared to have no future in which he could expect 
or in which he wished to share. 

The loss of children is a sore trial, but it may 
bring to some bereaved hearts a sort of satisfac- 
tion to remember that infants who are taken 
away in infancy are saved from the evil to come in 



MOURNING FOR ABSALOM. 243 

the chances of this worried life of ours, and are 
kept safely where by-and-by they may be found 
and loved again. Many of us have seen over in 
Westminster Abbey a beautiful alabaster cradle, 
with an infant's face just showing itself from be- 
neath a coverlet wrought in delicate stone apparently 
spread over the figure. It is the tomb, as the in- 
scription relates, of Sophia, daughter of James I. , 
who died when only three days old, in 1607, and to 
that brief record is added this verse for an epitaph: 

" When the archangel's trump shall blow, and souls to bodies 

join, 
Millions will wish their lives below had been as short as thine." 

5. There is a sad meaning iit the words ''''too 
latey Most of us wish we could live parts of our 
lives over again, to make some corrections. Espe- 
cially we think of the example we set or the words 
we speak or the deeds we do in the presence of our 
intimates, perhaps even of our children. David does 
not help the case much with any behavior of his in 
this story. But we begin to feel, I am sure, that his 
wrong-doing had something to do in the formation 
of Absalom's character and in the fixinor of Absa- 
lom's doom. For we carry in mind the truth of the 
old couplet: 

"Who saws thro' a trunk, tho' he leaves the tree up in the 

forest. 
When the wind casts it down, is not his the hand that smote it?" 

But there comes a moment in which one feels that 
all regrets arrive too late for any good to come forth 
from them: no hope now! 



244 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

Yet out of this ought to grow some benefits to 
ourselves or to others, or life is a failure. It would 
be to edification if we could know how much the 
wisdom of one of David's sons was drawn from the 
behavior of another. Solomon was reared in this 
tempestuous period, and must have been a thought- 
ful observer of what was going on. Did he gather 
from these storms of feeling wildly sweeping over 
his father's experience any of the sober maxims he 
has given us in the book of Proverbs ? As the fate- 
ful years rushed by him, and this studious brother 
of Absalom moved forward towards the kingdom 
he was soon to wield, did he reach the conclusion 
that there was "a time" for everything? "a time 
to get and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time 
to cast away." There is a limit set; there is an 
hour that is too late. 

Could Solomon have been thinking of Absa- 
lom's death, and of his father's failure, when he 
penned those sad and gentle sentences: "Hear, ye 
children, the instruction of a father, and attend to 
know understanding. For I give you good doctrine; 
forsake ye not my law. For I was my father's son, 
tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. 
He taught me also, and said unto me. Let thy 
heart retain my words : keep my commandments, 
and live." 



THE VOICE OF A ROCK. 245 



XXIV. 

THE VOICE OF A ROCK. 

"The Rock of Israel spake to me." — 2 Sam. 23:3. 

It is comforting and edifying to find King 
David at his very best when he bids us farewell. 
He sings a great song which he gives afterwards to 
the Psalter, and thus sends out into the public ser- 
vice of the Lord's house. Then he sings a shorter 
one full of tenderness and trust, which he leaves to 
be the crown of his history among the annals of 
Israel: "Now these be the last words of David. 
David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was 
raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, 
and the sweet Psalmist of Israel, said, The Spirit of 
the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my 
tongue." 

Now it will be better for us in our present ex- 
position to bring before our minds the peculiarities 
of David's experience first, so that we can fully 
appreciate what will help us most in our own. 

I. The whole story of this dying king might be 
illustrated by a brief analysis of still another sacred 
song which he had written during the same period 
of his later disciplines, and then we can give our 
direct study to the terms of that in which the text 
appears. 

No one can read the twenty-seventh Psalm 



246 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

without becoming certain that it was written by a 
man who was at the moment far down in the depths 
of spiritual conflict, and yet was holding a steady 
front against his troubles after all. He prays so 
passionately, that we should deem him weak even 
to cowardice if it were not for the fact that he 
praises so jubilantly, and lifts his head with a most 
unsubdued ring in his voice. The Psalm is like a 
summer cloud just before a storm, in that it reserves 
an overcharge of power to be driven on by a sort of 
induction into the very verge of the final verse, 
from which it explodes with a glorious flash of 
lightning, which clears the air instantly. 

This closing counsel, coupled with the appre- 
hension of a failure, mentioned before, has been 
rendered into exquisite poetry: 

" Oh, if I had not believed verily 
To see the goodness of Jehovah 

In the land of the living! — 
Wait on Jehovah, be strong, and let 
Thine heart take courage. 
Yea, wait on Jehovah ! " 

''Here," says the German commentator Hengsten- 
berg, "is the strong part of the soul just speaking 
to the weak: the Psalmist is not exhorting others, 
but exhorting himself: it is a kind of monologue." 
It is because each believer has these two "parts" 
in him always — the strong and the weak — that such 
a sacred song serves him with such a mysterious 
welcome. He studies it until he can read it fluently; 
he reads it till he knows the words by heart; he 
begins to sing it softly to himself, when all of a 



THE VOICE OF A ROCK. 247 

Budden he finds his voice rising in exultation, his 
heart growing into a dauntless courage, his eyes 
filling with tears as he sings on. 

Put with this now the beautiful song which forms 
the theme of the present discourse. The subject- 
matter is the same. David avows his implicit trust 
in Jehovah. He calls him by an old name and also 
bv a new: " The God of Israel said, the Rock of Is- 
rael spake to me." Of these two the first is the 
historic designation of the true and living One who 
had chosen, guided, loved, and protected the nation 
from the beginning. The second seems to be a 
fresh appellation coming from the innermost heart 
of the grateful monarch as he now reviews the past 
and anticipates the future. The phraseology is pe- 
culiarly dramatic and picturesque. The Rock has 
a voice; the Rock of Israel had been speaking to 
him ever since he had been in the kingly seat of 
power. David's wild and outlaw life had made 
him know what w^as the value of a stronghold, a 
shelter, a refuge. Rocks had been in his experience 
his best friends for many a year. Rocks w^ere un- 
changing in their affection for him ; they were 
immovable in their stability ; they were impreg- 
nable for defence; often he had found rest under the 
" shadow of a great rock in a weary land." What 
had this Rock of Israel said to him during this 
wonderful career? 

For one thing, it had told him, as a counsel of 
superior wisdom, that he ought to reign righteously 

all his life: " He that ruleth over men must be just, 
ruling in the fear of God," 



248 FROM SAMUEI. TO SOLOMON. 

For another thing, the Rock had spoken the 
terms and the conditions of a fine promise. A just 
ruler would be prospered in proportion to the purity 
and piety of his administration: ''And he shall be 
as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, 
even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass 
springing out of the earth by clear shining after 
rain." 

And for the best thing of all, the Rock had 
assured him graciously of a permanent continuance 
of the divine favor: " Although my house be not so 
with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting 
covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is 
all my salvation, and all my desire, although he 
make it not to grow." The wicked should fall 
before him ; he must keep on his guard against 
them, for they would soon be destroyed from the 
kingdom: "But the sons of Belial shall be all of 
them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be 
taken with hands; but the man that shall touch 
them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a 
spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in 
the same place." 

Thus the song ends; and it leaves the king 
peaceful and tranquil in the repose of his faith. 
Livinof or dvinor he would now be the Lord's own 
servant. The grace of his heavenly Benefactor had 
passed by the imperfections of some of his family 
and the soiled fame of his "house." There had 
been made with him "an everlasting covenant, or- 
dered in all things, and sure:" upon this he would 
now be content to abide for ever. 



THE VOICE OF A ROCK. 249 

11. Hence, we are prepared to take the whole 
thought with us, as we come, in the second place, 
to consider modern religious experience. The doc- 
trine we have traced through the history and the 
Psalms, and in these final words of David espe- 
cially, is this: God has given to those who are will- 
ing to receive it an everlasting covenant, ordered in 
all things and sure, and he invites believers to come 
and rest in it. 

What are the conditions of implicit trust in the 
Lord of our salvation, such trust as will insure 
peace and comfort? It is likely that most of God's 
children, sooner or later, are permitted to journey 
on wearily over what seemed a highway, only to 
find, at the last, the sign inscribed, " No thorough- 
fare here." A grim kind of consolation enters one's 
heart as he murmurs, ^' Some one has been here be- 
fore to put up the guideboard, at any rate!" 

I. The main condition of resting in the Lord is 
found in looking outside of one's self. There is a 
habit of morbid self-examination which needs to be 
shunned. The more conscientious any believer is, 
the more apt he is to press unnecessary scrutiny of 
introspection. Some experiences there are which 
are too delicate to bear this rude analysis. A wo- 
man's love for her husband, a child's confidence in 
his father, could be disturbed fatally and for ever, 
if only half as much violence were brought to bear 
upon it as some Christians are accustomed to ex- 
ert upon their religious feelings. One can tear 
himself all to pieces, to no sort of profit, and to 

every sort of harm. Whoever will read over the 

II* 



250 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

first six verses of this Psalm must be constrained 
to see that the Lord is the one to look at, not our- 
selves. 

2. The next condition of spiritual repose is 
found in the avoiding of unwise counsellors. Once 
a Christian friend wrote a letter to me, saying that 
she had just, after a long struggle, come to something 
like peace in believing, when along came a "so- 
called evangelist to torment her before her time," 
telling her that ''all we have to do is to accept sal- 
vation as we would accept a book from Christ's 
hand." She could not do this so easily, and hence 
she was informed again that her faith had no foun- 
dation upon which to be "secure." It would break 
up two- thirds of the business firms in the United 
States if an evangelist were to keep going round 
among the counting-rooms, telling people that they 
were in jeopardy every hour unless they could come 
to absolute confidence in their senior partners; and 
then they must be sure, still, that they have the 
right kind of confidence in them; and then they 
must be modest, and become surest of all that they 
are not becoming over-sure of anything this side of 
heaven. Human beings cannot get on with this; 
they cannot live so with God or with man. We 
must cultivate some measure of unquestioning trust. 
We must learn to trust our trust, and not keep root- 
ing it up. No plant grows which is continually 
being rooted up. 

3. Another condition of rest in God is found in 
drawing a clear distinction between historic faith 
and saving faith. What secures to us a perfect sal- 



THE VOICE OF A ROCK. 25 1 

vation is spiritual trust in the Saviour, and this is 
the gift of the Holy Ghost. And whoever says that 
we receive divine grace as we would receive a book 
from a man's hand, is simply mistaken in ignorance, 
or is misunderstood in his statement. Mechanical 
acts are frightfully poor illustrations of deep reli- 
gious exercises. Some sort of fervor, some degree of 
emotion, is needed in order to appreciate divine 
grace and receive it fitly. Tameness and luke- 
warmness are simply insipid. It is a heart-trust that 
God asks for, not a mere head-trust. This was the 
old complaint urged by the prophet long ago: " And 
there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stir- 
reth up himself to take hold of thee.'' A maiden 
may be told by her enthusiastic lover that it is as 
easy to trust him for ever with her life as it is to 
take a flower he oflfers; she knows better. It is easy 
to receive facts, perhaps, but not so easy to under- 
stand experiences which lie deeper than any mere 
outward acts. Historic faith is not necessarily sa- 
ving faith. 

4. Yet again: we are to cultivate confidence in 
the slowly reached answers to our prayers for divine 
grace. Why is it that so many Christians are like 
the weaves of the sea, continually rising and falling, 
falling that they may rise, rising that they may fall 
again, and never getting still at all? Some of us 
have been brought up in a chronic and constitutional 
ferment. When one finds it difficult to rest in 
implicit faith, he is taunted with making God a 
liar; when he says he has reached assurance, it is 
insinuated that he should be on his guard against 



252 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

self-deception. I know the name of a boy, who has 
grown to be a man in these years since; when he 
was making his home with an aged relative, one of 
the very salt-of-the-earth sort of people, he was un- 
able to get the bonds of his burden unloosed, though 
he lived in daily and hourly struggle for peace. An 
inveterate investigation of motive and purpose and 
emotion kept him in turmoiL One day this godly 
woman quoted the text about casting all sins into 
the depths of the sea (Mic. 7: 19). That expression 
riveted his attention; he came home from a long 
walk of meditation, joyous and peaceful in Christ; 
his sins had been cast away for ever: unfortunately 
he told of it. "Oh! I am rejoiced with you," said 
the aged Christian; "now make it thorough; pray 
with David, ' Search me, O God, and know my 
heart; see if there be any wicked way in me.' " 
That set him all afloat again. For weeks he had 
been urged to stop this endless searching, and just 
trust; now he was told to stop trusting and just 
search. For many a solemn year since then that 
man has thanked God that at times, when it seemed 
to him that father and mother had forsaken him, 
the Lord took him up. 

5. Yet again: we must distinguish between emo- 
tions and religious states. The one may vary, the 
other is fixed. Faith is a very different thing from 
the result of faith; and confidence of faith is even a 
different thing from faith itself; and yet the safety of 
a soul depends on faith, and on nothing else. We 
are justified by faith — not by joy or peace or love or 
hope or zeal. These last are the results of faith, 



THE VOICE OF A ROCK. 253 

generally, and will depend largely upon tempera- 
ment and education. Sometimes one demands that 
he shall feel that his sins are forgiven; this he can 
believe, but not feel. Christians are not called know- 
ers or feelers or actors, but believers; for it is the 
believing that makes them Christians. Christ says: 
*'Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast 
out." Now one believes that to be true, and the 
moment he comes, and he knows he comes, that 
moment he believes he is not cast out; and after 
that he should say, ^'I am a Christian; the I^ord 
help me to grow in grace." Think how beautiful 
is this verse: "When thou saidst. Seek ye my face; 
my heart said unto thee. Thy face, Lord, will I 
seek." Maclaren compares it to the swift response 
of the alert and obedient sailor who says over the 
command of the captain to be sure he obeys it. 
"Port," cries the captain. "Ay, ay, sir; port it 
is," says the steersman. 

6. Finally, this unbroken courage is a condition 
of rest. David said that he came near fainting, and 
should have done it, only he kept on believing to 
see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the liv- 
ing. We must not think everything is lost when we 
happen to have become beclouded. That faith is 
the best which has been tried and tested. In my 
study lies a little flower. It came to me long ago, 
by the hand of one who plucked it upon the highest 
ridge ever reached in the Rocky Mountains. It is 
of a rich purple color, light and graceful in form, 
and retains yet, I imagine, a faint and delicate per- 
fume. The lesson which it teaches me is one of 



254 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

endurance and patience. Away up there, where the 
snow lies late and the storms come early, it has held 
its own. The bleak solitudes had no charm for it; 
nay, I think that this flower was created to give 
a charm to a solitude which would have been the 
bleaker without it. To me it is the symbol of trust 
— absolute and implicit trust in God. It is a livino- 
thing that knows how to keep its warmth in despite 
of ice, and its beauty in despite of desolation all 
around it. 

There was a famous divine who happened once 
to see from the pulpit one of his friends sitting in 
the pew — an old and dear comrade in the ministry. 
He went down immediately to invite him to come 
up and preach. " Oh, I cannot do that," the man 
said; "I have no sermon, not even a subject upon 
which to speak off-hand so!" And the pastor re- 
plied: "That is all right; preach to them about /7'usf 
171 the Lord; it is an excellent theme; the people 
always want to hear more about it, and it helps 
them much. I preached on it n\ys^\i twice last Sab- 
bath; it did good, I know it did; and this w^as my 
text: 

"Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that 
obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in 
darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the 
name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. For the 
Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be con- 
founded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, 
and I know that I shall not be ashamed." 



THE CORONATION OF A LIFE. 2^5 

XXV. 
THE CORONATION OF A LIFE. 

" Be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man." — 

I Kings 2:2, 

Forty years now had King David ruled over 
the children of Israel. His days of strength were 
mostly ended. He was quietly dwelling in his capi- 
tal city, infirm in body, weary in heart, and bitterly 
feeling the results of his domestic mistakes. For 
his polygamous marriages had brought him only 
misfortune and increase of care. His children be- 
gan to wrestle for power and openly plot for the 
succession. It is curious to notice that in these 
latest troubles the women come into conspicuous- 
ness, each conspiring to defeat the other's plans for 
the advancement of a favorite son. Haggith put 
forward Adonijah, but Bathsheba grew formidable 
from the fact that Solomon was the one chosen 
by God. It was this consideration which settled 
David's mind, and which, when the insurrection 
demanded decision, constrained his action: "How- 
beit the Lord God of Israel chose me before all the 
house of my father to be king over Israel for ever: 
for he hath chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the 
house of Judah, the house of my father; and among 
the sons of my father he liked me to make me king 
over all Israel ; and of all my sons (for the Lord 
hath given me many sons), he hath chosen Solomon 



256 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the 
Lord over Israel. ' ' 

It will be necessary, in our exposition of the 
verse that we have selected, for us to consider the 
somewhat sudden coronation forth to which David 
summoned his son: afterwards we shall be better 
able to appreciate the paternal counsel with which 
he crowned his career as a religious man, and also 
as a monarch. 

I. Most Scripture readers will recall the story of 
the abrupt summons which brought Solomon to the 
throne and made him the king of God's people at 
the early age of nineteen years. 

The promise had been given him, under direc- 
tion of the inspired prophet of the Lord, that, event- 
ually, he should succeed his father in the sover- 
eignty; but David had seemed in no hurry to sur- 
render the position. At this point Adonijah, an 
indulged and pampered son, made the hazardous 
attempt to usurp the royal sceptre. Most righteous 
judgment was this new rebellion upon a parent 
whose weakness with his children had been noto- 
rious; for we are told somewhat suggestively con- 
cerning David's lax family government that he had 
never displeased this unruly boy at any time, even 
to the extent of asking him, ''Why hast thou done 
so?" 

Taking advantage, now, of the old age of his 
royal father, this ingrate began to stir up a party in 
his own behalf, and at last made a great feast at the 
well En-rogel with the intention of having himself 
immediately proclaimed monarch of the kingdom 



THE CORONATION OF A LIFE. 257 

by the adherents he had tangled into becoming con- 
spirators. He gathered horses and chariots and 
fifty men to run before him. Of popularity or of 
shrewdness he had enough to pervert to his cause 
the warrior Joab and the priest Abiathar. And 
upon a set day the excited throngs, down at the 
foot of the valley, began their eating and drinking, 
ever and anon making the welkin ring with the 
absurd shouts of "God save the King Adonijah!" 

News was brought at once by the faithful Na- 
than to the ears of the feeble sovereig^n. The fire 
of his prompter years awoke in David, and for a 
moment he seemed to act like himself. Instinct- 
ively he apprehended that it would avail nothing 
for an infirm man like him, now in these last years 
of his decrepitude, to attempt in his own name to 
put dowm so formidable a rising; so, with admir- 
able decision, he sent for Zadok, who remained as 
usual loyal, and Benaiah, and Nathan, to bring forth 
Solomon. 

These faithful men hastened to obey him, and 
the youthful prince w^as put on the king's own 
mule, and surrounded with the insignia of regal 
rank, in order that he might be proclaimed at once 
and invested with the supreme authority as mon- 
arch of the realm. Equal to the emergency, these 
commissioned servants led the train out to Gihon. 
There they anointed Solomon as David's successor, 
with the sound of the trumpet in due form. 

Gladly was the new sovereign welcomed. The 
enthusiastic people came up the road after him, pi- 
ping with pipes and shouting with great joy, "so 

Fiom Samuel to Solomon. 



258 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

that the earth rent with the sound of them.'^ This 
clamor of rejoicing was heard by Adonijah and most 
of his insurrectionary guests; fear and consternation 
put a sudden end to their feasting and filled their 
hearts with unutterable alarm. Each traitor fled 
his own way. Adonijah rushed up the vale of 
Jehoshaphat, hid himself in the sanctuary, and 
finally was reported to be clinging to the very 
" horns of the altar." There Solomon found him, 
pitied and pardoned him, magnanimously dismiss- 
ing him uninjured to his own house, promising him 
forgetfulness and favor in the future, if he should 
behave himself. 

When our party last visited Jerusalem, our tent 
was pitched out on the edge of a beautiful declivity, 
from which the eye easily ran down through a deep 
valley to a distant, yet quite perceptible, ruin of a 
fountain. Imagine yourselves there only for a mo- 
ment. Before you — indeed, at your very feet — lies 
an excavation lined with masonry, once a reservoir 
from which were conducted streams of supply into 
the city close by at your left. And now, with this 
fragment of history familiarly in mind, come and 
stand with us where our outlook begins. The great 
edifices just behind us (modern entirely) are those 
of the Greek convent, erected by some Russians. 
That slope to the left is Mt. Zion. The almost dry 
tank close in front is Upper Gihon. The chasmal 
cleft between hills, down which your eye ranges, 
is Hinnom, and the Potter's Field is on the side of 
it over across. The dilapidated well in the distance 
is all there is left of the ancient En-roq:el. And vou 



THE CORONATION OF A LIFE. 259 

are at this moment upon the exact spot where the 
most splendid monarch of human history received 
his investiture and first wore his crown. These 
are the hills around you that rang w4ien the loyal 
multitude shouted, ''God save King Solomon!" 
Is it possible for any common pulses to keep quiet 
under the pressure of such associations? Can any 
' mind be tame while the morning sun is unfolding 
the scene of such stories as these ? 

II. Thus much for the coronation; now we come 
to the counsel with which David graced it. We 
shall see that this was the coronation of a life as 
well as of a reign. For the words spoken by this 
father to this son, in whose favor he had abdicated 
supreme power, are only an exhortation to religious 
experience: "Now the days of David drew nigh 
that he should die; and he charged Solomon his 
son, saying, I go the way of all the earth: be thou 
strong therefore, and show thyself a man; and keep 
the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his 
ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, 
and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is writ- 
ten in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in 
all that thou doest and whithersoever thou turnest 
thyself: that the Lord may continue his word 
which he spake concerning me, saying. If thy chil- 
dren take heed to their way, to walk before me in 
truth, with all their heart, and with all their soul, 
there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the 
throne of Israel." 

But it now appears wisest to add to this general 
rehearsal a new verse, taken from the more compact 



260 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

annals of the Chronicles, and embodying in its suc- 
cinct utterance an analysis of doctrine very remark- 
able for the Old Testament; it really defines piety, 
and answers the question we labor so often to settle, 
What is it to be a genuine Christian? In such a 
verse, therefore, it might be expected we could find 
help for three classes of persons: for true believers, 
who always give a welcome to any rehearsal of the 
steps in salvation ; for parents and teachers, who de- 
sire information to communicate in detailed particu- 
lars to others; and for inquirers, who really wish to 
be told their way into the peace of the gospel, and 
so to be saved. 

I. What is religious experience? The reply is 
found here. Let us read over carefully the counsel 
given, clause by clause: "And thou, Solomon my 
son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve 
him with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind, 
for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth 
all the imaginations of the thoughts. If thou seek 
him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake 
him, he will cast thee off for ever." Religion con- 
sists in a form of knowledge, a form of conduct, a 
form of feeling; and feeling includes affection and 
submission. 

Knowledge stands first in these steps: "And thou, 
Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father." 
It would seem that it must be impossible for any one 
to become a Christian without some intelligent un- 
derstanding of the principles of the gospel. A man 
rnay not need to consider himself much of a theolo- 
gian, but evidently he must know that the Saviour 



THK CORONATION OF A LIFE. 261 

died for him. He must be sufficiently advanced to 
explain and appreciate, for example, such a chapter 
as the fifty-third of Isaiah or the eleventh of Mat- 
thew; or else he would not have knowledge to dis- 
cern the Lord's body, or to come, weary and heavy 
laden, to Christ to find rest. 

Next to this comes conduct: "and serve him." 
Activity is a sign of life; behavior is the outflow of 
sentiment: "as a man thinketh in his heart, so is 
he. ' ' When one prays, ' ' Thy will be done, ' ' surely 
he must suppose somebody is going to "do" it. 
For a petition like this is not to be exhausted in 
mere resigfuation. Faith without w^orks is dead. 
Soldiers of the cross enlist, not simply for camp 
fetes^ or for easy quiet of hospital treatment, but 
for some sort of valiant actual service in the field. 

Then there will be feeling^ likewise: "and serve 
him 'with a perfect heart and a willing mind." 
There must be some eagerness and zest, some emo- 
tion, some sensibility, in all true experience of reli- 
gion; otherwise it cannot have "a perfect heart" in 
it, in any proper sense. And besides this affection 
for the Saviour, for his person, his cause, his 
friends, and his service, a full submission is re- 
quired. Christ is our Master; and we always are 
implicitly to obey him, or we cannot have the 
"walling mind" which King David here urges. 
In all genuine religion, under gospel invitation and 
command, there should be penitence of deepest sor- 
row for sin, zeal of longing for the conversion of 
others, solicitude of carefulness lest possible injury 
should be done bv anv chance forgetfulness in our 



262 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

life, humility of disposition, docile to every sugges- 
tion of the Holy Ghost. If such elements be want- 
ing, the experience will certainly be tame, harsh, 
unenthusiastic, and ungrateful in the sight of our 
patient God. 

2. But how is such a religious experience to be 
obtained ? Once more we must come back to this 
verse we are studying. The closing clauses of it 
answer every remaining question: "For the Lord 
searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the 
imaginations of the thoughts; if thou seek him, he 
will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he 
will cast thee off for ever." 

How shall one obtain that knowledge he needs ? It 
is likely that most persons in Christian communi- 
ties have already gained information enough to be 
saved; if not, the whole Bible is open; let them 
"seek" it by study and by prayer. Solomon had 
only a part of the Old Testament; we have now all 
that Solomon under inspiration added to it, and all 
that David did also, and a host of others: and then 
we have all the New Testament besides. 

How shall one attain the conduct he needs? Let 
him begin anywhere, at the point of weakness in 
his behavior, whatever it may be. Let him strive 
to control a wild temper, check a hasty habit of 
speech; let him seek to become gentle and kind and 
amiable. Watchfulness and prayer are the means 
of grace for every lofty attainment. Let each one 
resist the devil and interdict the flesh and separate 
himself utterly from the world. One of the con- 
verted Chinamen, when he visited America, was 



THE CORONATION OF A LIKK. 263 

somewhat amazed at the fashionableness of some 
professing Christians whom he met. On one occa- 
sion he said, with a most extensive gesture of his 
arm: "In my country, when Jesus' disciples come 
out from the world, they come clear out. ' ' Compro- 
mises are perilous. Satan always watches to attack 
undecided and irresolute people. 

How shall one secure the feeling he needs f This is 
among the questions perhaps the hardest, because 
all sincere and profitable sensibility has to be sought 
indirectly. Our hearts are not under our personal 
direction. No man ever got an affection by trying 
to get it. The fact is, religious emotion is spirit- 
ually the gift of God. But it sometimes comes 
graciously to men through the study of the truth; 
more often it comes through the exercise of obedi- 
ence. Strike right in anywhere, doing good as best 
the way opens. Lift those w^ho are down, teach 
those whose ignorance is worse than your own, 
search for and urge souls far away from God to 
come to the cross for pardon. We love the persons 
we work for, the things that cost us effort. We 
become interested in the ends we strive after. That 
is to say, one's very earliest duty is this: submit 
3^ourself to God as your Father and Maker; start out 
with the unconditional and penitent surrender of all 
you have, and all you are, and all you hope to be, 
unto Christ as your Saviour; then prayerfully ask, 
and expect the Holy Ghost to become an indweller 
and do all the rest for you. 

This is the true coronation of a soul, for it is the 
coronation of a life. We read that when Kinqf 



264 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

George of England was passing out from the cere- 
monies of investiture to the sacrament of the Lord's 
Supper, even while the old abbey was ringing with 
plaudits, he laid aside the royal diadem with which 
he had just been crowned, and drew near the sym- 
bolic feast with his head uncovered and sank down 
on his bended knees. That coronation of a soul in 
the presence of its God is the highest of the two; to 
be a child of grace is more than to be the founder of 
a dynasty. 

And now our story ends, as David glides away 
out of sight and his equally brilliant son advances 
into history in his room. We cannot help applaud- 
ing the grand endeavors of this young monarch to 
commit himself, more and more fully and publicly 
before his people, as a servant of the Lord who had 
elevated him so remarkably to the throne. But just 
here has been lifted one note of warning. Some of 
these verses become fairly pathetic as we recall the 
subsequent history of Solomon. He did not walk 
obediently in the ways of God unto the end; he left 
the statutes in which his father walked; he diso- 
beyed the commandments which David kept in 
uprightness of heart. So at the last his career be- 
came unhappy; he wandered away into sin. We 
shall have to go over this again by-and-by; a merci- 
ful obscurity covers his later life. Let us never 
forget that this was the son to whom his father said, 
"If thou forsake God, he will cast thee off for ever." 

If a magnet should say to the blade of iron, 
"Cling to me, and I will never let you fall," and 
then the iron should become wilful and leave its 



THE CORONATION OF A LIFE. 2G5 

hold, would the magnet be to blame? If a tree 
should promise a branch that if it would remain 
in the living graft it should be kept alive; and 
then the branch, growing perverse, should leave its 
hold, would the tree be to blame ? If Christ says to 
you and me, "Abide in me, and I in you," can the 
engagement he makes possibly be misunderstood or 
misused? 

It would be a pity for us to stand in admiration 
looking at this youthful king advancing now into 
power, or in consternation wondering at his down^ 
fall, so as to lose all the admonition his life gives to 
ourselves. It is the custom in these times for young 
men nineteen years old to talk much about chances 
in life. That is not the earliest nor even the real 
question. None of us will ever have Solomon's 
chances, and so none of us will make his failures. 
The great question is. What shall we do with the 
chances we have, better or worse ? 

It is wiser to strike out independently. Some 
one has said, I do not remember who, that "there 
are many echoes in the world, but few voices. " Are 
the days of chivalry all gone? Is there nothing 
knightly or noble to be found now on the earth ? 
Who is on the Lord's side? Who will choose to-day 
the heavenly Wisdom for his guide, and so crown 
his life with a glory which patient prayer will per* 
petuate ? 



12 



266 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 



XXVI. 
THE FIRST THING TO DO. 

" In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by 
night : and god said, ask what i shall give thee." — 
I A'ifz^s 3 : 5. 

When into any Old Testament incident there 
can be pressed the whole significance of a New Tes- 
tament precept, the study of both becomes a still 
more eager pursuit. Thus we know that God is the 
same in character, and the gospel is the same in 
purpose, through all the ages. Solomon's choice 
is a plain illustration of the entire meaning of the 
Lord's command: "Seek ye first the kingdom of 
God and his righteousness; and all these things 
shall be added unto you." With this familiar 
counsel in our thoughts let us take up the story 
before us, verse by verse, that we may draw from it 
its evauQrelical lessons for our own instruction. 

I. It will be well now^ if in the very beginning 
we learn a fact which not only covers this incident 
and furnishes a key for its explanation, but covers 
every Christian's entire religious life, namely this: 
ez'ejy revelalion of divine grace is definitely conditioned 
np07t prayer as the instrumejit of its attainment : "In 
Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream 
by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give 
thee." Here are Solomon's slumbers interrupted 
by a call out of heaven. Evidently God is purposing 



THE FIRST THING TO DO. 267 

to do liiiii a great favor; but all that the voice says 
is that he is to "ask" before anything is to be 
granted. The grand decree of omnipotence waits 
iipon this exercise of human free-will. And what 
the Almighty here claims, Christ insists upon in 
the Sermon on the Mount. God says "ask," and 
Jesus says "seek." Only we ought to remember 
that we in an age of blessedness and light, we in 
these latter times of clearer revelation, have one 
supreme advantage over those who sought their 
help under the teaching of that former dispensation; 
this is no longer a dream-voice that we hear from 
heaven, but the intelligible living message from 
the lips of God's Son. And such messages demand 
the immediate surrender of one's heart and life. 
"The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a 
dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my 
word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? 
saith the Lord. Is not my w^ord like as a fire? saith 
the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the 
rock in pieces ?' ' 

2. Let us pause just here for a moment, before 
we come to the choice Solomon made, and catch a 
lesson of general interest like the other: reminiscent 
ces of previous help are a7i excellent advantage hi prep- 
aration for present petition. When we find so young 
a king referring to former histories in the house- 
hold and the realm, it becomes clear that he kept 
his eyes open and his mind thoughtful while the 
story of Absalom and Mephibosheth in the old 
times was working itself out, and while the predic- 
tions concerning himself were making their impress 



268 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

on the nation. We can contrast with very favor- 
able comment this unbroken trust of Solomon with 
the frequent forgetfulnesses of his father and the 
consequent discouragement he felt. David never 
seemed to lay to heart those engagements which 
Samuel had sealed when he anointed him to be 
king in Israel; so he was always afraid he should 
one day perish by the hand of Saul. But Solomon 
stood up bravely against all menaces or mysteries, 
relying patiently on the covenant God had already 
made. The great promises would certainly be kept, 
and on this settled foundation he felt encouraged to 
open his lips and heart for further requests. 

Note his first words: '' And Solomon said, Thou 
hast showed unto thy servant David my father great 
mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, 
and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart 
with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great 
kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on 
his throne, as it is this day." He stirs himself up 
to a strong faith of devotion by a kind of rehearsal 
before the Lord of what he had engaged to do for 
such as trusted him. Now this must be what Mat- 
thew Henry means when he makes his often-quoted 
remark: "Whatsoever God sends down to us in a 
promise, we are to send back to him in our prayer." 

3. Here is another lesson applicable to all ex- 
periences alike: the cojiscioiisiiess of real need in cany- 
ing out the Lord^ s purposes is a forcible alignment for 
importunity ijt supplication : "And now, O Lord my 
God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of 
David my father: and I am but a little child; I 



THE FIRST THING TO DO. 269 

know not how to go out or come in." Very pa- 
thetic is such an acknowledgment on Solomon's 
part. Most commentators seem to reckon that he 
was about nineteen years of age; and that is not the 
period, in modern times at least, when we are apt to 
find young men calling themselves children. More- 
over, we must remember that thus far this newly- 
crowned king of Israel had been seeking to live a 
life of mixed motive and undecided alleeiance. 
The record is made of him in the earlier verses of 
this chapter; his separateness unto God was ques- 
tionable: "And Solomon loved the Lord, walking 
in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed 
and burnt incense in high places. And the king 
went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the 
great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did 
Solomon offer upon that altar." 

He loved the Lord with a sort of love, and he 
W'alked in the acknow^ledged statutes of his father 
with a sort of devotion ; but he still kept up a con- 
nection w^th respectable idolatry, as perhaps he 
deemed necessary for a prince of the blood, and he 
also burnt incense in high places. But he now felt 
that he must positively take his stand for the Lord, 
and for the Lord only. He was pressed with a deep 
sense of his weakness; he said he could not find out 
how to go out or come in. What he wanted was, 
precisely as Christ said in the New Testament, "the 
kingdom of God and his righteousness" in himself; 
then he could be a true king. It is worth know- 
ing, this fact: whenever any young man is under 
the conviction that a responsibility has been laid on 



2/0 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

liitn harder than he can bear, he can make out of 
his pressure a plea for help; for no one in all the 
world's history was ever put into a place of perilous 
exposure, for the Lord's sake, without having been 
surrounded with helps, to be reached by pleading 
for them. 

4. To this argument, moreover, Solomon joins a 
fresh one: " And thy servant is in the midst of thy 
people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that 
cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude." 

A weigJity responsibility in duties constitntes a mo- 
tive for asking God to ifitetpose with his benediction of 
help. Any man who is genuinely religious has an 
inalienable conviction that the almighty Lord of 
heaven and earth will never leave him unaided if 
He has summoned him to the lead in a tremendous 
undertaking. A burden of care is his reason for 
seeking audience with his King. He knows he 
may go straight to him, and may claim, "Thine 
honor is at stake now in me; aid me, therefore, lest 
I bring reproach upon thy name by failing when 
thou hast promised to hold me up." 

A bright instance of this precise experience is 
given in the biography of Martin Luther. In 1532 
there was a great drought, and this bold reformer, 
after quoting the eighteenth and nineteenth verses 
of the hundred and forty-fifth Psalm, broke out 
into prayer: '* Why wilt thou not give us rain now, 
for which so long we have cried and prayed ? We 
have prayed so much, prayed so often; and our 
prayers not being granted, dear Father, the wicked 
will say that Christ, thy beloved Son, hath told a 



THE FIRST THING TO DO. 2/1 

falsehood in saying, Whatsoever ye shall ask the 
Father in my name, he will give it you: thus they 
will give both thee and thy Son the lie. I know 
we sincerely cry imto thee, and with yearning; 
w^hy, then, dost thou not hear us?" That same 
night there fell refreshing rain. 

5. At last, here in the story, w^e come to the ex- 
act reply which Solomon made to this invitation 
brought him in his dream: "Give therefore thy 
servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, 
that I may discern between good and bad: for who 
is able to judge this thy so great a people?" The 
first thing to be asked for in God^ s grace is a new and 
" understa7idi7ig heai't^ The idea here is a heart of 
discrimination, a power to discern conscientiously 
between right and wrong, and to pronounce unerr- 
ingly for the right. There can be no doubt about 
the fact of Solomon's religious sentiments in this 
request. It was not mere intellectual prudence and 
sharpness that he w^as seeking. He chose, as Moses 
did in the long years before, that the Lord should 
be his God; he was beginning a life of devotion. 

As Solomon grew older he would need con- 
tinual increase in spiritual life. In the order of 
divine succor to human need, it is the kingdom of 
God and his righteousness which is to be sought 
earliest; other advances might be gained afterward. 
Once, when the pious Bishop Latimer was trying to 
tell the way in which he, as a yeoman's son, had 
been trained by his father to shoot at a target, he 
said, " I used to have my bows bought me accord- 
ing to my age and my strength; as I increased in 



Z-JZ FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

these so my bows were made bigger and bigger/^ 
I suppose this was precisely what the patriarch 
meant, likewise, when he said, " ]\Iy glory was 
fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand." 
What Solomon needed in the beginning was wis- 
dom as the principal thing; then afterward God 
would see to it that he had other graces, grace upon 
grace. 

6. Now what was the result of such a choice? 
There is in the story a revelation from God: " And 
the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had 
asked this thing.'' And the lesson for us to learn 
is this: /ic ivill quickly succeed in life zvho has the 
iestimotiy iJiat lie pleases God. From these words 
any one could predict the future of this young king; 
for the Lord announced himself his friend. 

Think what a history is recorded of Solomon's 
splendor; what a chance he found for fame and use- 
fulness, what a shining line he drew across the 
pages of his country's annals. He wrote a thou- 
sand sones and uttered a score of thousands of 
proverbs: he told of the cedar on the top of the 
mountains and of the hyssop creeping along the 
wall; he sat in a throne of ivory, and received kings 
and queens that only came to wonder at his glory 
and went away dazed. There was no spirit left in 
them, and yet the half had not been told. 

7. We may learn, once more, that a tjczv hearty 
wise and uudcrstaudiug, is a better benediction than any 
other which human wishes could desire : '*And God 
said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, 
and hast not asked for thvself lonof life; neither hast 



THE KIRST TIIIXG TO DO. 273 

asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of 
thine enemies : but hast asked for thyself under- 
standing to discern judgment; behold, I have done 
according to thy word: lo, I have given thee a wise 
and an understanding heart; so that there was none 
like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any 
arise like unco thee." There is something myste- 
rious in this educatiuQf force of relioious life within 
one's soul: "the entrance of God's words givetli 
light." Truth of one kind swiftly affiliates with 
truth of every kind. The mind grows in power and 
genuine acuteness under the presence of the Holy 
Spirit. Solomon passed at once into possession of 
his vast and imperial acquisition; for in this very 
chapter is related the story of his wise and ingenious 
decision concerning the two women and the dead 
infant which was disputed between them. And 
the record reads so as to set doubt to rest; it was 
God who crave him his discretion: "And all Israel 
heard of the judgment which the king had judged; 
and they feared the king: for they saw that the wis- 
dom of God was in him, to do judgment." 

8. We shall not adequately appreciate the singu- 
larity and excellence of Solomon's request unless 
we take account of such blessings as he might have 
been, in those times, more likely to seek. The voice 
from heaven enumerates several of these; kings like 
this young man would be supposed to wish for long 
life and many years to reign, for revenge upon their 
enemies and triumph over their military foes, for 
riches and renown and conspicuous splendor: these 
Solomon passed by, and sought the more valuable 

Fiom Saiimel to Solomon. j ^^ 



274 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

though less showy acquisition of wisdom. Now 
we observe that a reward came to him as welcome 
as it was wonderful: for God said: "And I have 
also given thee that which thou hast not asked, 
both riches and honor; so that there shall not be 
any among the kings like unto thee all thy days." 

It is always so in the ministrations of divine 
grace. Our lesson here is, perhaps, the very best 
of all we shall learn to-day: with this chief blessing 
of a new heart sought and gained^ God grants every- 
tJiing else that is needed. Solomon took occasion a 
long time afterwards to put this thought in among 
his proverbs: " Happy is the man that findeth wis- 
dom, and the man that getteth understanding. For 
the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise 
of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She 
is more precious than rubies: and all the things 
thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. 
Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left 
hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of 
pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." 

And certainly this is the familiar promise of the 
New Testament; to such as seek first the kingdom 
of God and his righteousness it is engaged that all 
things shall be added unto them. Riches and 
honor will come in due order of time so far as shall 
be for one's good and God's glory. If God delivered 
up his Son for us, shall he not with him also freely 
give us all things? Our Heavenly Father is al- 
ways pleased when any one comes to him in love 
and trust, seeking to know his duty and pledging 
his heart to obedience. Just this approach to him, 



THE FIRST THING TO DO. 



275 



this surrender to him, appears to open, all at once, 
the treasures of his infinite o:race. 

Some may possibly have heard of that curious 
piece of mechanism, constructed so as to give its 
novel welcome and surprise to the prince who was 
to open one of our modern expositions. In appear- 
ance it was not unlike a clock, but so delicately 
balanced w^ere its wheels, and so dexterously ar- 
ranged were its works, that only a breath delivered 
in the front of it was needed to start it into going. 
The prince was told that, when he stood in the pres- 
ence of the vast structure, he must make obeisance 
and speak to the likeness of his kingly father just 
beneath the dial: all on a sudden therefore, under 
impulse of that single word in the air, those hands 
began to move, the weights began to pull, the signs 
of mysterious life ran over all its arched face, while 
a beautiful strain of music came forth as a greeting 
for the king's son. Something like this, for a 
memory or a figure, may have been in the imagina- 
tion of the noted French preacher when he ex- 
claimed, " Prayer it is which sets in motion all the 
power of God ! " 

9. The story draws near its end. But there still 
remains another promise, one act of grace more, 
w^hich the voice offers: *' And if thou wilt w^alk in 
my ways, to keep my statutes and my command- 
ments, as thy father David did walk, then I will 
lengthen thy days. And Solomon awoke; and be- 
hold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, 
and stood before the ark of the covenant of the 
Lord, and ofiered up burnt offerings, and offered 



276 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

peace offerings, and made a feast to all his ser- 
vants." With present answers to prayer always come 
assuraitces of contifincd love ct7id grace to the faithful 
for the future. 

While these proffers of help are still in our hear- 
ing it is wise for every one of the children of God 
to keep urging his importunate solicitations. Weak 
desires defeat our ends with a mere mock modesty. 
The great Augustine was right when once he ex- 
claimed, "We must hold our empty vessel to the 
mouth of so large a fountain." And indeed, if God's 
covenant eno^ag-ements have so fine an indorse- 
ment that they will circulate as petitions, it would 
be well to use them literally and often. It was the 
lamented Humphrey who was said to have had the 
power of weaving together the Scripture promises 
so appropriately into his prayers that his exercises 
of devotion seemed like cloth of eold. 

The great thing is to start right in all our pur- 
poses and move straight on in modest dependence 
upon the faithfulness of our covenant-keeping God; 
then we shall be certain of success. 

"That low man seeks a little thing to do, 

Sees it and does it ; 
This high man, with a great thing to pursue, 

Dies ere he knows it. 
That has the world here— should he need the next ! — 

Yet the world mind him ! 
This throws himself on God, and, unperplexed, 

Seeking, shall find him." 



THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE. 2/7 



XXVII. 

THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE. 

•'But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold the 
heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee: 

HOW MUCH LESS THIS HOUSE THAT I HAVE BUILDED !" — I Kings 

It is easy for us to picture one of those old Jews 
going up in after years to the solemn feasts with his 
tribe, and pausing upon the summit of the Mount of 
Olives to refresh his sight with the view of that 
wonderful house which Solomon erected for the 
worship of God. Worn and weary with the long 
travel, possibly he had lingered on his staff at the 
brow of the declivity. 

The morning cloud may have still been covering 
the valley, and through it only a glimpse of an in- 
distinct outline of architectural beauty may have 
been discerned; and, perhaps, the aged man's mind 
may have sought to fashion even that into life. But 
as he intensely gazed, the mist may have parted; 
then, all on a sudden, the vapors may have folded 
themselves up into pavilions of splendor to surround 
the exquisite vision which burst on his sight. We 
can almost see the spectacle so fully displayed. 

Over the clear white walls the sunshine w^as 
gleaming, the rays thrown flashingly back from the 
rich roofing of gold. Simple in its pure loveliness, 
yet majestic in its grandeur as the habitation of 
God, ''strength and beauty" were in that sanctu- 



278 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

ary in their highest embodiment of perfection. Its 
magnificent columns in long line, its stupendous 
porch and concentric courts around the central fab- 
ric, its two guardian pillars of burnished brass at the 
door, its gates glittering with the metal of Ophir: 
these would earliest attract his attention; and per- 
haps (if his position chanced to be near enough) his 
eye would see the forms of the white-robed servitors 
going in and out as they ministered at the morning 
sacrifice within the sacred precincts. 

We can soon begin to understand and appreciate 
the enthusiasm of the "sono^s of de^rrees" on the 
lips of such a pilgrim, as he might sing: " Beautiful 
for situation is Mt. Zion, the city of the great King, 
the joy of the whole earth! Peace be within thy 
walls, and prosperity within thy palaces!'' 

It is through the medium of such long ranges of 
subsequent history, so crowded with marks of popu- 
lar admiration and loving approval, that we best 
imagine how this new edifice appeared on that day 
when Solomon came forth to dedicate it to the ser- 
vices of divine worship. Oh, it was a fair, fine of- 
fering, the entire surrender of which he now bore 
freely upon his royal hands! 

The stately ceremonies on this occasion are all 
on permanent record in two books of the Old Testa- 
ment. The pageant must undoubtedly have been 
the grandest which the children of Israel ever saw. 
The inspired narrative grows fairly bewildering 
with its detailed groups of golden vessels carried in 
state into the building, so that the act of consecra- 
tion should embrace actually everything at once. 



THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE. 279 

The reader's mind is dazzled when he appears to 
see such a glittering procession going into the tem- 
ple in the Levites' hands. There are the bowls and 
the golden nets to cover them; four hundred pome- 
granates- of beaten gold; brazen pots, shovels, and 
basins; the laver, the sea, the altars, with the table 
for the show-bread ; the ten candlesticks, the flowers, 
the lamps, and the tongs of gold; the snuffers, the 
spoons, and the censers. All these seem trooping in, 
during those hours of preparation, like the vast pro- 
cession of living creatures which once entered the ark 
of Noah, bidden by the command of heaven. " So 
was ended all the work that Kino- Solomon made for 
the house of the Lord. And Solomon brought in 
the things which David his father had dedicated: 
even the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, did he 
put among the treasures of the house of the Lord. ' ' 

At last the supreme moment arrived, and all the 
wonderful work of these thirteen years was to be 
dedicated to the God who would hereafter be wor- 
shipped by the whole nation. What fashion of ser- 
vice might now be used in the formula of transfer ? 

All great things are simple. Solomon was the 
wisest king that ever lived. He knew just what 
was fittest. He came forth in person, although he 
was not an ordained priest; he was royally the ser- 
vant of Jehovah, and properly representing the peo- 
ple, he was the one to pass over the temple to the 
tribe chosen long: before to managfe their ecclesiasti- 
cal affairs. So he took boldly the whole pageant 
into his own hands. The liturgy he employed he 
probably composed himself, and perhaps committed 



28o FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

to writing: certainly it has been handed down to the 
ages with its general form unimpaired. There are 
several particulars in its literary structure which we 
mio-ht do well to examine in turn. 

o 

To begin with, he gave a full expression to the 
overpowering sense he felt of the greatness of Jeho- 
vah, with whom he had to do: then he added the 
affectionate recognition of divine mercy and grace 
in the long and illustrious past: he also made his 
humble acknowledgment of God's wonderful conde- 
scension in every part of his work during these sea- 
sons of preparation : then mingled with this, he 
thankfully and trustfully accepted the Lord's invita- 
tion to continue to hold communication with him 
in the future history of the building: and he closed 
with the suggestion, most extensive and detailed, of 
his life-long need of God's companionship, praying 
with all his heart for himself and his people. 

Now there can be no doubt that any earnest 
preacher would be very glad to occupy himself with 
the prolonged study of this incident as a mere mat- 
ter of history. The description of these entire 
services would be picturesque, and the theme would 
be as full of interest as it would be of instruction to 
us all. But if one can only link with the develop- 
ment of the story some modern lessons, of spiritual 
and practical application, concerning truth and con- 
duct, there might be lost nothing in the vividness, 
and there might be gained much in the vigor. We 
are reminded anew of some passages in the epistle of 
Paul where each believer is explicitly declared to be 
''the temple of the Holy Ghost:" ''What! know 



THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE. 2S1 

ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy 
Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and 
ye are not your own? Know ye not that ye are the 
temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dvvelleth 
in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him 
shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, 
which temple ye are.'^ 

It becomes a serious question whether it is ex- 
pected that this individual temple should be formally 
dedicated as was that of Solomon. And if it be true 
— as manifestly it has been held in all ages of the 
church — that each Christian is to bring himself in 
an act of solemn consecration unto God before even 
the Holy Spirit will consent to become an indweller 
in his soul, it is also a question how such an act 
shall be fittingly performed. May it not be that 
just here, in the procedure of Israel's king now un- 
der our observation, there might be found counsels 
and directions of the highest value as to the dis- 
charge of one's duty? Indeed, I do not hesitate to 
assert that each of these five particulars in the public 
formula of this wise and serious monarch offers itself 
as a step to be taken by every converted man when 
he makes the ultimate dedication of his whole being 
to the sovereignty and the service of the God who 
created him, the Saviour who brought him redemp- 
tion, and the Holy Spirit who, having given him his 
new heart, enters into it as its permanent resident. 

I. For example, Solomon begins with the expres- 
sion of his sober se7ise of the divine greatness. He 
exclaims, " Lord God of Israel, there is no God like 
thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath." Now 



282 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

it will be of no use wliatsoever for any human being, 
who is intelligently proposing to consecrate himself 
fully to God's service, to attempt to covenant with 
the Almighty without realizing that he has entered 
upon the most awfully serious moment of his life: 
for he is dealing with the one supreme Head of the 
universe. Even Abraham, who reached the highest 
stand a creature ever stood upon, and was called the 
Friend of God, was awe-struck and hushed as he 
tried to utter his prayers of intercession for the 
wicked in Sodom: *' Behold now, I have taken 
upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but 
dust and ashes," 

2. Then, next to this as an experimental step in 
the dedication of one's self as a temple of the Holy 
Ghost, comes an affecting rcmeinbmnce of the divine 
grace. Solomon openly admits that he is now in 
the immediate presence of that God who was accus- 
tomed to keep covenant and mercy with his servants 
that walk before him with all their heart. He recalls 
the promises pledged to his father David, and com- 
forts himself with rehearsing ancient engagements, 
each one of which had been faithfully performed. 
It is likely that no man who has formerly been a 
sinner in the sight of heaven could ever have the 
face to offer himself again to God, unless he felt 
deeply that his Maker had been kind and forbearing 
all along, and is yet merciful and gracious, and 
unwilling that any soul should be lost, speaking 
w^ith his mouth words of gentle encouragement to 
all that would trust him, each of which he would in 
inexhaustible love fulfil with his hands. 



THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE. 283 

3. In the third place, Solomon makes a Jmmble 
achiowledgmeitt of the divine condescensions He has 
prepared for God this palace; for years he has felt a 
sort of pride in so magnificent an undertaking. But 
now in this moment of his highest satisfaction he 
appears surprised by a fresh revelation of the glory 
of God. He sees how utterly insufficient after all is 
anything human heart can offer, or human mind can 
conceive, for the use of that omnipresent Being who 
fills the universe and inhabits eternity. No sentence 
in all this extraordinary address is more pathetic in 
its disclosure of experience than that we find here: 
"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, 
the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain 
thee; how much less this house that I have builded! " 

It is the grand simplicity of such an exclamation 
that fixes an unusual character upon it. The candor 
of the confession shows a heart penetrated with the 
consciousness that its very best gift must be sancti- 
fied by the altar of God it lies upon before the 
infinite holiness of Jehovah can accept it. It is this 
honesty of public admission which shows us that 
the king bends his heart and will as surely as he 
does his knees. Oh, how much of mockery there is 
in our modern consecrations! Just now it is her- 
alded across the world that the king of Cambodia 
has suffered his head to be shaved in order that a 
broom of royal hair may be used to sweep the 
stones before the shrine of the Buddhist college at 
Colombo. Such forms of melodramatic humiliation 
have in them some wretched vices of pride. One 
who brinofs his whole beinof to God has not brought 



284 I'RO:*! SAMUEIv TO SOLOMON. 

much after all. He mioflit well remember that he 
who cannot be contained even by the heaven of 
heavens is not highly honored by any gift which it 
is condescension for him to touch. 

4. Then, next, we notice in this story that Solo- 
mon trustfully accepts the fulness of the divine in- 
vitation to continue to hold communication with 
him in the buildinof he was ofFerinor. The record 
here is so si^rnificant that we shall do well to look at 
its terms; the king quotes to the Lord his special 
promises: " Yet have thou respect unto the prayer 
of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my 
God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, 
which thy servant prayeth before thee to-day: that 
thine eyes may be open toward this house night and 
day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, 
My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken 
unto the prayer which thy servant shall make to- 
ward this place. And hearken thou to the suppli- 
cation of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when 
they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in 
heaven thy dwelling-place: and when thou hearest, 
forgive. ' ' 

Attention was louQf aero called to the fact that 
the disciples going to Bmmaus were not enlightened 
so as to recognize Jesus all along the way where 
they conversed with him; not until they fulfilled his 
commands in the exercise of hospitality did they 
suddenly discover how their hearts had burned with 
the thoughts he had given them. " Not by hearing 
his precepts, '' says Gregory in one of his homilies, 
"but by doing them, did they receive illumination." 



THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE. 285 

The souls that only freely receive, it is not at all 
certain will be those who will understand. It is 
when souls freely give, they begin to grow intelli- 
gent. Solomon's mind was enlarged as soon as his 
heart became warm. Then he recalled that the 
Lord had once said that he would keep his name in 
the temple so as to be specially there the Hearer of 
prayer. This it is that appears to have given him a 
fresh estimate of the vast benediction which Jehovah 
had lodged in this right of petition at the mercy- 
seat on which the light shone between the cherubim. 
He asks as he gives; he holds out his hand as he 
drops his benefaction out of his fingers. When any 
one soberly sets about dedicating his being unto 
God, the very act of giving himself away under a 
covenant opens his mind to appreciate the value of 
such divine communications in return. 

Mystery then ceases, mysticism ends, and reality 
begins. There was a mission girl in Africa, edu- 
cated in a Christian school, who advanced so far in 
relictions enthusiasm that she reo;arded the Bible 
with an almost superstitious reverence: at great 
labor she obtained an entire copy of the New Testa- 
ment and nio^htlv secreted it as a talisman or charm 
imder her pillow, saying when she was detected that 
she expected the "spirit of the book" would enter 
into her, and she would awake some bright morn- 
ing as good and happy as some of those she knew 
around her. Surely this is not the way to profit by 
a gift of celestial charity. One of the loftiest steps 
of Christian consecration is reached when a man 
is beo-innino^ to realize fullv that God has invited 



2S6 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

him to pray for all he needs, in that very moment 
in which he has given away all he has in this world. 
Thereafter prayer is not a charm, but a blessed 
business transaction. Just as Matthew Henry 
acutely remarks, it is '^the key of the morning, 
and the bolt cf the evening:" provision and pro- 
tection. 

5. So we reach the last step of all in this dedi- 
cation of a soul to be a temple of the Holy Ghost: 
Solomon suggests his sense of a life-long need for the 
divine companionsJiip and favor. This lengthy prayer 
he offered on the present occasion ought to have an 
extensive study by itself Seven petitions are found 
in it, making one think of the seven divisions found 
in the Lord's Prayer. The astonishing thing to be 
observed over everything else in this eloquent lit- 
urgy, is the commonplaceness of the requests. Solo- 
mon talks about trespasses and enemies, about rain 
and famine, about strangers and battles, about sins, 
sins^ last and most of all, as if he felt the supreme 
peril there must be in the one abominable thing 
which God hates. It is this final reach of a super- 
eminent trust in committing all one's ways, daily, 
prosaic, habitual, unto the sole guidance and care 
of the Almighty, that constitutes the highest act of 
Christian consecration. Then the soul cries out : 
*'Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy rest- 
ing place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy 
priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and 
let thy saints rejoice in goodness." 

As might be expected, this narrative closes with 
a manifestation of the divine presence. We can 



THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE. 287 

seem to see the splendor of the celestial flame; we 
can almost hear the great volumes of excited voices 
as those people unite in their chorus with a multi- 
tude of psalteries and harps, with the mingled ring- 
ing of the cymbals and the blast of the trumpets: 
" Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, 
the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the 
burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of 
the Lord filled the house. And the priests could 
not enter into the house of the Lord, because the 
glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house. And 
when all the children of Israel saw how the fire 
came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the 
house, they bowed themselves with their faces to 
the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, 
and praised the Lord, saying. For he is good; for 
his mercy endureth for ever." 

It remains for us at the conclusion of this slender, 
but perhaps quite sufficient analysis, to return to 
the practical question raised at the beginning of the 
discourse: How can we most fittingly discharge the 
duty of dedicating ourselves to God ? How can any 
one begin in the open surrender of himself to the 
new life which is by Christ ? 

Let him reflect in the outset that in all such 
matters he must at once become deeply, desper- 
ately serious, for the Almighty God never trifles or 
admits caprice. Let him recollect that his Maker 
is his Father: God is merciful and always keeps his 
covenant. Let him divest himself of all conceit 
and spiritual vanity, and humble himself before his 
Supreme Judge. Let him establish open and in- 



2S3 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

stant communion in an obedient way with the 
Hearer of prayer at the foot of his throne. And 
then let him pass over his whole life and being — 
body, soul and spirit — without reserve into the 
keeping of his God. So will he find the Holy 
Ghost coming down into the temple of his heart as 
the divine glory came into the house that Solomon 
builded ; so will he find the grand vision of old 
repeated; so will God's shining love flood the whole 
being of his chosen child with peace and hope, with 
joy and song for ever. 

" On some evening soft and golden, 

In the times far back and olden, 
One who lived amid the lowlands, and within the fading lights, 

Felt an impulse, a desire, 

To attain unto the higher, 
And the mountains of Jerusalem allured him to their heights. 

" But the climbing was a sign 
Of a longing more divine. 
Of an ascent leading higher than the feet of man had trod. 
'I will lift mine eyes desiring 
To the hills of help aspiring,' 
And his soul was carried upward to the very feet of God. 

*' And we come to learn, though slowly, 
That we gain the highest solely 
When we leave the lower things of earth, and stand at last with 
Him ; 
That the God who dwells above us, 
Who will ever bless and love us, 
Has the power to draw us upward to the life that is not dim. 

" Our eyes are fixed on heaven. 
And we pray that strength be given 

Unflinchingly to press through the upward, onward way, 
And that Christ may go beside us. 
To help us and to guide us 

Till we reach the Home above us, and dwell in perfect day.** 



THK OUICKX OF SIIEBA'S VISIT. 2S9 

XXVIIL 
THE QUEEN OF SHEBA'S VISIT. 

"And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of 
Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came 
TO PROVE him with HARD QUESTIONS." — I Kings io:i. 

The strange history to which this familiar 
verse refers sounds like a fragment of Oriental 
romance. If we were not certain that the entire 
story is inspired, the picture of King Solomon's 
glory would appear extravagant and florid in its 
details. Higher in wealth, wisdom, and power 
no human being has ever ascended than he had 
reached at the moment when the kings and the 
queens of that entire continent came to visit him 
in his palace at Jerusalem, and all the known world 
rang with his praise. 

For we are to bear in mind that this reception 
of a queen from the lower part of Arabia was not a 
strano-e thinof, standing: alone as an extraordinary 
event. It became a habit for the conspicuous sover- 
eigns everywhere to go to see this wonderful king 
on his throne of ivory and hear him discourse. 
Monarchs could not content themselves with send- 
ing deputations to bear him compliments and do 
him homage. They wanted to behold him as a 
veritable person, and hear him speak as he was 
reputed to speak, with proverbs dropping off his 
tongue and songs falling from a voice that appeared 

From Samuel to Solomon. I "X 



290 FROM SAMUEI. TO SOI.OMON. 

inspired, as indeed it really was. His actual renown 
as a prince was less than his reputation as a sage: 
"And God gave Solomon wisdom and understand- 
ing exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even 
as the sand that is on the sea-shore. And Solo- 
mon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the chil- 
dren of the east country, and all the wisdom of 
Egypt. For he was wiser than all men : than 
Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and 
Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all 
nations round about. And he spake three thousand 
proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. 
And he spake of trees, from the cedar-tree that is in 
Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of 
the wall: he spake also of beasts and of fowl and of 
creeping things and of fishes. And there came of 
all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all 
kings of the earth, which had heard of his wis- 
dom." 

It will be wise for us now just to take up this 
Old Testament story into detailed consideration. 
It is crowded with suggestions of spiritual instruc- 
tion which will reward our study. 

I. We may as well begin with this observation: 
Christianity challenges the greatest of the world to 
investigate its bold claims for supremacy as the one 
relio:ion for the human soul. 

It was not mere curiosity which brought this 
queen of the south to see Solomon. No doubt he 
was the most conspicuous monarch in what was 
then known as the world. But there was, every- 
where, put forth in his behalf the claim that he 



THE QUEEN OF SHEBA'S VISIT. 291 

was the wisest man in celestial information who 
had ever lived. Snch an astonishing announce- 
ment was a direct defiance and demand, whenever 
a curious ear heard it floating on the wings of pop- 
ular publication. It must be true, or not true. A 
question was raised; it could be settled by nothing 
except rigid experiment. This Jerusalem monarcli 
must be looked up, his assumption put to the test: 
"And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame 
of Solomon, concerning the name of the Lord, she 
came to prove him with hard questions. And she 
came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with 
camels that bare spices and very much gold and 
precious stones: and when she was come to Solo- 
mon, she communed with him of all that was in 
her heart. And Solomon told her all her questions: 
there was not anything hid from the king, wdiich 
he told her not." 

Two somewhat unusual forms of expression need 
to be noticed here. The queen had heard of Solo- 
mon's fame "concerning the name of the Lord." 
We must remember she was a heathen from Arabia; 
she lived away fifteen hundred miles from the land 
of Israel. Nearly three months she must have been 
journeying .under a blazing sun and across a burn- 
ing desert of sand. We shall surely mistake greatly 
if we imagine she had undertaken so serious a tran- 
sit because she w^as merely curious to look upon 
Solomon's wealth or prowess, his trading in apes 
and peacocks, his parade of royalty in the entertain- 
ment of princes, or listen to his repartees of intel- 
lectual sharpness and wit under the riddles and 



293 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

enigmas of Eastern ingenuity. This Jewish sover- 
eign was a worshipper of Jehovah: for that is what 
the word employed here explicitly means. Solo- 
mon's wisdom was not simple scholarship; it was 
inspiration. He had received it as a gift from 
heaven; she came to be taught. 

The other expression is equally suggestive: "she 
communed with him of all that was in her heart.'' 
There cannot be less in such a statement than the 
implication that this woman felt some stirrings of 
conscience, some convictions of need. She may 
not have been acquainted with God's revelation of 
his covenant; but had had, most likely, some ques- 
tions that had agitated her soul. These must have 
been spiritual and experimental; and her fatiguing 
endurance in such a stress of travel was a pilgrim's 
lonely patience. She was on a religious errand, 
resembling that which in after years took the 
Ethiopian eunuch over much the same weary path 
to the same city. When she heard of the wisdom 
which a beneficent heaven had bestowed on Solo- 
mon, she believed that a counsellor so gifted would 
be worth seeking, and she longed without doubt to 
test his power in bringing rest to her soul. 

So we press the point: this '' queen of the south 
came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear 
the wisdom of Solomon: and behold, a greater than 
Solomon is here." Christ has represented himself 
in Christianity; he is to be tested in the system of 
faith he came to proclaim. And what we insist 
upon is, that every thinking soul is bound to seek, 
search, sift, and examine what this Son of God, 



THE QUEEN OF SHEBA'S VISIT. 293 

who was the Son of man, has to say. This revela- 
tion from heaven for men's salvation is either every- 
thinof or nothinof to each immortal beine croine to 
God's judgment. For it claims to be all that any one 
needs for the final redemption of his soul. Its one 
invitation is that which it gave at the opening of 
the parley between God and man — "Come and 
see." Off from a hilltop in any Christian land the 
eye sees a hundred of its steeples, every spire of 
which is either an index-finger to point heavenward 
with a trusty direction, or is an impudent and in- 
tolerable lie: and he who will not set himself to 
investigate its assumptions is a peril to himself and 
a shame to the race. 

II. We are ready now to move onward to another 
observation: skeptics might as well pause in uttering 
their decisons of personal rejection of Christ till they 
have fully understood him. 

It is not every one that is competent even to dis- 
believe. It requires much thought to dispose of 
Christianity thoroughly. It is a system that stands 
very determinately upon conduct; and it insists that, 
before any intelligent investigator shall come to a 
fixed conclusion, he shall follow up what he already 
knows by working it into his life. And then he 
will, quite possibly, be surprised by further disclo- 
sures which he did not previously suspect. There 
is a great pertinence just here in the splendid figure 
of the traveller Humboldt; he says: "At the limits 
of exact knowledge, as from a lofty island shore, 
one's eye loves to glance towards the distant re- 
gions. The images that it sees may be illusive; but, 



294 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

like the illusive images that people imagined they 
had seen from the Canaries, or the Azores, long be- 
fore the time of Columbus, these may also lead to 
the discovery of a new world." There is no field of 
study of which this remark is truer than that which 
religious investigation offers. For Christianity, es- 
pecially, holds out suggestions and inspirations, 
sometimes highly picturesque or imaginative, for a 
vivid and venturesome faith to use as hints and 
lures for further advances. And not till one has fol- 
lowed up his clews to the end is he in condition to 
pronounce on what he has learned of himself or of 
God. 

This account of the queen's visit gives us her ex- 
perience after she had met Solomon and had opened 
her whole soul to him: "And when the queen of 
Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the 
house that he had built, and the meat of his table, 
and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of 
his ministers, and their apparel, and his cup-bearers, 
and his ascent by which he went up unto the house 
of the Lord; there was no more spirit in her." Evi- 
dently she was subdued to the last degree of aston- 
ishment or humiliation: "there was no more spirit 
in her." Adam Clarke is willing to go so far in his 
comment as to say, " She fainted." 

It may be advantageous for us now to consider 
the skeptical reply to these inferences we are seek- 
ing to draw from such a confusion as this she mani- 
fests. We are intimating that her defeat was on a 
religious ground: and we are met by the rehearsal 
of an ancient Jewish legend concerning the errand 



THE QUEEN OE SIIEBA'S VISIT. 295 

slie came upon, wliicli, it is insisted, gives an entirely 
different phase to her conduct. The rabbinical story 
relates that this woman had a previous correspond- 
ence with the king. In answer to one of his regal 
summons to her, to submit to his sceptre, she deter- 
mined to send him an embassage, and propitiate him 
with gifts. She called five hundred boys, whom 
she dressed like girls, and the same number of girls, 
whom she arra}ed in the clothes of boys. Then 
she gathered a thousand carpets of gold and silver 
tissue, with a great quantity of expensive perfumes, 
and added a crown which glittered with pearls and 
brilliants. In a curious box she also placed a pearl, 
beautiful and solid, a diamond, pierced in a tan- 
gling line, and a crystal goblet. These strange mes- 
sengers bore with them an epistle to Solomon, 
telling him that, if such a king was likewise a 
prophet, he would be able to describe the contents 
of the casket: that he must string the diamond, 
perforate the pearl, and fill the goblet with water 
that neither fell from heaven nor bubbled from the 
earth. When the embassy arrived, Solomon easily 
guessed all there was concealed; he drew out of his 
treasures a mysterious amulet, with which he drilled 
in a moment an orifice in the pearl; examining the 
diamond, and detecting that the hole in it was 
crooked and winding in zig-zags, he took a fibre of 
silk, summoned a worm, placed one end of his 
thread in its mouth, and passed it inside the stone, 
so that it should crawl through to the other face; 
and, all this time, one of his negro slaves, at his 
command, had been riding a wild animal from the 



296 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

desert till it reeked and dripped with sweat, with 
which the chalice was soon filled from neither earth 
nor heaven. When these exploits had delighted his 
conrt, he bade his slaves bring silver ewers, in which 
the messengers of the queen should wash. Solomon 
watched, and saw that the boys only dipped their 
hands, but the girls rolled their sleeves up to their 
shoulders; and so he knew them all at once; and the 
witnesses applauded. 

From this it is inferred that the ''questions^' 
which Solomon answered were only the perplexing 
and quibbling puzzles usually bandied between the 
wits who claimed to be sages. It cannot satisfy the 
needs of the story thus to interpret the visit. This 
old foolish legend has no shadow of authority or of 
wisdom. We are not able to believe that our Sa- 
viour would condescend to put himself on such a 
low level of comparison. It could not be that lie 
only claimed to be a greater riddle-reader than Solo- 
mon. He was not summoning those lawyers, who 
thronged him, to ask him a mass of enigmatical 
questions; he had enough of that, as it was. Jesus 
was not solemnly and pathetically reproaching his 
hearers for not coming forward to test his gifts as a 
guesser or a seer. And we return to our conviction, 
that this woman was anxious as to things in her 
heart, which only one skilled in religious matters 
could explain to her soul's rest. We do not believe 
— however violently strong-minded or conceitedly 
smart such a woman may be conceived to be — that 
she would cross a continent to adjust a match of 
wits with Israel's king, and then, dumbfounded 



THK QUEEN OF SHEBA'S VISIT. 297 

and dashed, would thank the Lord his God, who 
delighted in him, for having put him on the throne, 
because he loved Israel for ever. No: we sav 
again that her experience was honestly a wise and 
worthy suggestion for cavillers to ponder; she was 
left w4th no spirit in her, because Solomon spoke 
with divine inspiration. We read the Proverbs of 
this man, we study the sermons of Ecclesiastes, this 
royal preacher, we even sing the Song of Songs in 
its wonderful pictures of the Messiah; and we no- 
where find that he wasted his heavenly gifts in 
threading diamonds or piercing pearls. On the 
contrary, we insist on saying of him in the Old 
Testament, as we say of Jesus in the New, " Never 
man spake like this man." And whoever goes 
meekly and humbly to Christ may be sure he will 
find he has no spirit of cavil left in him. 

III. We learn, therefore, a fresh lesson: religious 
inquirers should not hesitate in coming to Jesus 
Christ for a satisfying answer to all the soul perplex- 
ities which beset them. . 

If there were only the revelations of God in na- 
ture for a direction and a comfort, there would be no 
small gain over what the heathen have in their 
poems and dreams; for what would come to us 
would be at least trustworthy, because it would be 
true. The best minds have often found solace in 
the mute world around them. Chaucer used to say 
that walking in the meadows, at dawn of day, to see 
the blossoms spread against the sun, was a blissful 
sight which softened all his sorrows. Henry Mar- 
tvn, lonelv and sad, in his far-away mission-field, 

13* 



298 FROM SAMUEI. TO SOLOMON. 

exclaimed, " Even a leaf is good company.'^ And 
Ruskin writes in his essay: ''What a fine thought 
that was, when God Almighty earliest thought of a 
tree!" Even with this for our Bible, our Lord 
would excel Ecclesiastes: "Consider the lilies how 
they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I 
say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not 
arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the 
grass, which is to-day in the field, and to-morrow is 
cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe 
you, O ye of little faith ? " 

But the living Word and the written Word are 
better for a man, immortal and sensitively intelli- 
gent, than all this friendly communing with nature 
only, for he is pondering questions in his heart. 
Nature does not discuss sin; nature lives by law of 
its Creator; and by law man is crushed and cursed, 
and lies for ever bleeding, and is going to be slain. A 
new revelation must come for his help from outside 
of nature and outside of himself. And Law stood 
grandly and gladly pointing towards the Gospel as 
John the Baptist lifted his finger towards Jesus, and 
exclaimed, ** Behold the Lamb of God, which ta- 
keth away the sin of the world!" 

Here, then, we find all we want in Jesus Christ; 
and this Helper is close at hand, to be reached in 
the Bible and at the mercy-seat in prayer. So the 
counsel of the great Augustine as to spiritual per- 
plexities is clear: "I cannot see these things, you 
say: believe, and you will see: perchance your eye 
is wounded and obscured and disturbed, by anger, 
by avarice, by desire, by insane lust; your eye is 



THE QUEEN OF SIIEBA'S VISIT. 299 

troubled, it cannot behold the light; believe, in or- 
der to see: then you will be cured, you will see." 

" For Christ is the end of the law for righteous- 
ness to every one that believeth. For Moses de- 
scribeth the righteousness which is of the law, That 
the man which doeth these things shall live by 
them. But the righteousness which is of faith 
speaketh on this wise, Say not in thy heart, Who 
shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ 
down from above:) or. Who shall descend into the 
deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the 
dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, 
even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the 
word of faith, which we preach: That if thou shalt 
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt 
believe in thy heart that God hath raised him 
from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the 
heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with 
the mouth confession is made unto salvation." 



300 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 



XXIX. 

SOLOMON'S FALL. 

/'And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went 

NOT FULLY AFTER THE LORD, AS DID DAVID HIS FATHER." — 

I Kings II : 6. 

On the whole, most thoughtful Christians would 
pronounce this one of the saddest chapters in the 
Bible. We had been led to have so much hope of 
Solomon's career that it breaks our human confi- 
dence in any prediction of success. This bright 
young monarch began with fairest expectations, all 
conditioned on his fidelity to Jehovah, his father's 
God; and yet here we discover that his conduct 
stoops to lowest wickedness, and his religious pro- 
fession has degenerated into the worship of the 
worst of promiscuous gods. Nay, more: our very 
**Preacher'* has become one of the preachers of 
evil; he has denied his own proverbs, he is rejecting 
his own songs, he has left the temple he built. 

I. Thus our first lesson to learn is, that neither 
age nor experience brings any I'elease to a man from his 
exposure to sin: "For it came to pass, when Solo- 
mon was old, that his wives turned away his heart 
after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with 
the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his 
father." 

"When Solomon was old:" certainly he was 
mature; for most commentators calculate that he 
was at least fifty-five years of age; he had reigned 



SOLOMON'S FALL. 30I 

thirty-five years as king in Jerusalem. If any one 
grows curious enough to ask for the reason of the 
disappointment, the answer is found in a single 
verse of the record: "And he had seven hundred 
wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: 
and his wives turned away his heart." In addition 
to the daughter of Pharaoh, who might perhaps be 
considered his queen, he gathered to himself a 
harem of a thousand women at once; and many of 
these were heathen, and were married contrary to 
the law of Moses and of God. We may as well con- 
jecture that Solomon had no use for a thousand and 
one of such creatures; it is likely that he did not 
share the acquaintance of a large number of them; 
but his vanity was extreme, and perhaps a splendid 
harem is to be reckoned among his indulgences 
of it. 

But this does not need discussion; the lesson we 
learn is, that mere time does not always render men 
safe; calmness and repose are not in every instance 
the fruits of experience; even a long public life, 
with the dignities of office included, is not to be re- 
lied upon for keeping one pure and true; a preacher 
may write the solemn warnings to young men, 
which seem so weighty among the Proverbs, and 
yet have three hundred concubines in his showy 
seraglio. There is no fool worse than an old fool. 
Wise man it was who said, " Count no one safe or 
happy till he dies." 

II. Then we learn, likewise, that it is possible for 
even a devout man to become a practical idolater in his 
secret heart: *^ For Solomon went after Ashtoreth 



302 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the 
abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did 
evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fnlly 
after the Lord, as did David his father." Ashtoreth 
was a goddess whose worship was indescribably ob- 
scene, and ]\Iilconi was Moloch with but a new title. 
All this while, remember, there stood the temple of 
Jehovah, which this man had so enthusiastically 
builded in the name of the nation: but no lonQ^er 
did Solomon keep himself true to its worship. One 
by one, in his wandering hours of sensuality, did his 
old religious principles give way: and at last we 
find him actually hunting up alliances with for- 
eigners and foes who enticed him into deeper sin. 

Let us understand; it is unwise to reject the ad- 
monitions offered us here, on the ground that there 
is no likelihood of a modern believer's committing 
Solomon's crime; for it is not habitual in our day 
for intelligent people to kneel at the shrines of false 
o-oddesses. The spirit of idolatry is what consti- 
tutes its abomination. Many of those who profess 
to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, even in 
this Christian land, are in mortal peril of putting 
some favorite idol in the throne of Jehovah. Twice 
in the very language of the New Testament epistles 
are we told that " covetousness is idolatry." Wor- 
shippers can easily be found in most walks of life 
around us who kneel before fashion and wealth, 
before avarice and pride, before rank and political 
preferment. We are solemnly warned against 
idols in our hearts, three times in one chapter, by a 
prophet. Idolatry is still a possible sin to dread. 



SOLOMON'S FALL. 303 

III. Now let us seek another lesson: progress by 
steps of persistent advance into deeper sin may ahvays 
be expected when one has taken quick start away frojn 
the right and towards wrong: "Then did Solomon 
build a high place for Chemosh, the abomination 
of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and 
for Molech, the abomination of the children of Am- 
nion. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, 
which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. " 
How strangely these verses follow on with disclo- 
sures of new defection! Solomon beg^an with weak- 
ness and dullness in Jehovah's service; then he 
"went after" heathen gods; then he "built high 
places" for them; then he took "his strange 
wives" with him, instead of teaching them better 
things; then he "burnt incense" openly to baser 
deities, and "sacrificed" publicly on the altars. 
Led, he ends by leading. Turned away by his 
wives at the first, he finishes his surrender by rush- 
ing his vast family into ruin. 

It is just this subtle power of the adversary 
which overthrows the good in our world. There is 
nothing more to be feared than the unperceived 
inroad of what might be termed a little sin. The 
old parable relates that the trees of the forest once 
held a solemn parliament, wherein they consulted 
concerning the innumerable wrongs which the axe, 
first and last, had done unto them and their neigh- 
bors. They insisted that this dangerous implement 
of steel had no power of its own; and they therefore 
instantly passed an enactment that no tree should 
hereafter be allowed to furnish anv blade with a 



304 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

helve on pain of being itself cut down to the root. 
So the axe journeyed through the forests, begging 
but a bit of wood from the oak, from the ash, from 
the cedar, from the elm, from even the willow and 
the poplar; but a stern denial met it at each turn; 
not one would lend it so much as a splinter from its 
branches. At last, it desired just this small indul- 
gence: give it but a chip — a mere handle with 
which it could trim away useless boughs, or cut off 
briers and bushes, for such suckers, as was well 
known, only used up the juices of the ground; they 
always hindered the growth of any thrifty tree and 
obscured its fairness and beauty. The forest was 
impressed with such moderation in the argument; 
it agreed that the axe in this instance might be sup- 
plied with one fragment which a storm had riven 
from an unfortunate sapling — a mere little stick, 
lying there, which no one prized and no one 
dreaded. But the instant that keen edge of steel 
was fitted with any sort of a handle, it struck off 
the branch of a sturdy oak at a stroke, then hewed 
itself a new helve at its will; and down went the 
elms, over toppled the cedars, and the hills grew 
bare as never before. The time for all defence was 
passed when the forest surrendered. 

IV. We learn, further, that the guilt of all trans- 
gression is in the sight of a holy God aggravated by 
past wartiings given: "And the Lord was angry 
with Solomon, because his heart was turned from 
the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto 
him twice, and had commanded him concerning 
this thing, that he should not go after other gods: 



SOLOMON'S FALL. 305 

but he kept not that which the Lord com- 
manded." 

In the New Testament we are told that Simon 
Peter's denials had all been predicted some time 
before; but he forgot the warnings until the crow- 
ing of the cock brought him to his senses; then a 
sad recollection filled him with remorse, and "he 
went out and wept bitterly." Here we read that 
Solomon's wickedness became inexcusable, and in- 
deed received deeper condemnation, because a gra- 
cious appearance of the Lord had been vouchsafed 
unto him on two remarkable occasions, and he had 
been "commanded concerning this thing." And 
w^hat awakes our supreme surprise is the fact that 
this great reprobate king is the very one who wrote, 
"Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of 
any bird." He sinned with his eyes wide open. 
And he it is who has written for the ages the most 
appalling threat found in the inspired word: " Be- 
cause I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched 
out my hand, and no man regarded: but ye have 
set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my 
reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will 
mock when your fear cometh : when your fear 
Cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh 
as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh 
upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I 
will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they 
shall not find me: for that they hated knowledge, 
and did not choose the fear of the Lord: they 
would none of my counsel: they despised all my 
reproof. ' ^ 

From Samnel to Solomon. 



3o6 FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

It is a vast privilege to be openly rebuked by 
God, to be checked and disciplined, to be hindered 
and hedged, to be admonished and commanded. 
Such things may fret a proud spirit: they will 
sometimes, however, deliver an imperilled soul. 
Better, by far better, is it that one's right arm be 
cut off, or his right eye plucked out, than that the 
whole soul and body be cast into hell-fire. And he 
who neglects his privileges is sure to have them 
reacting upon him by-and-by, and hurrying him 
down faster into wrong. Sadder eyes this pitying 
world never beholds below than those of such men 
as look wistfully back over the years of gracious 
opportunity, with only the knowledge left to them 
then that the days have been in which they could 
have been prospered and pardoned. Once having 
put their bright chances behind them, they laughed 
at the helps they would give worlds to bring back! 

V. We reach another lesson : retribution gathers 
7ip the entire history of the sinner^ even if it is dis- 
cJiarged in one act: "Wherefore the I^ord said unto 
Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and 
thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes 
which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend 
the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy ser- 
vant. " Henceforward it would do no good for this 
rejected monarch to awake himself to paternal zeal, 
and try to build up the fortunes of his shattered 
realm for his children. The kingdom would cer- 
tainly go to wreck soon, anyway, and nothing he 
could do would avail to stay the advance of its 
doom. The son must suffer for the father's guilt, 



SOLOMON'S FALL. 307 

the throne would be troubled because of the kino-'s 
transgression. People and ruler were going to dra^ 
each other down with reciprocal plotting. There 
was no opening left now even for some patriot's 
fidelity; retrieval was impossible. 

It is often worth while to attempt to avert a 
great catastrophe ; but one of the punishments 
sometimes inflicted for sin is the denial to the sin- 
ners of all success in after usefulness. A little child 
in Holland was once trudging home in the night 
along the pathway skirting a dyke. It was near 
the full of the moon, and he noticed that the water 
was trickling, like a white thread, through a small 
crevice in one of the wide canals close by the sea. 
He was wise enough to know that this opening 
would be spreading every moment, and would soon 
let in the wash of awful waves over all the flat 
regions behind. At once he started to run, hoping 
to summon help. But then, he thought to himself, 
he could stop the stream with his own hand now, 
but before workmen could be found it might be too 
large to control. So he, a humble patriot, sat 
down on the bank, and thrust his small palm with 
a mere sod of grass into the leak. And the stars 
came out, and the hours sped slowly, and the ocean 
air chilled him to the bone. Still, that heroic 
young watcher kept his post until the gray morning 
dawned. The village clergyman, out upon his early 
pastoral errands, was the first one to find the small 
pale creature, shivering there under the quiet stars. 
*' What are you trying to do ?" he asked. " I am 
saving the dear country from being drowned," re- 



30S FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 

plied the child. To his surprise, the good man 
suddenly burst into tears. *'0 my child," he ex- 
claimed, *' it is not of the least avail now! no use^ no 
use; for the dykes are to be torn away to-morrow: 
the enemy is coming: our homes are to sink under 
the billows ; our men fail ; the whole army sur- 
renders! " 

Thus, often in God's retributive providence, one 
who has committed sin has forfeited his hope for 
the future. He feels it as his punishment that no 
power of his can retrieve the injury; no fidelity of 
friends, lofty or lowly, no patience, no further self- 
sacrifice, will avail to stay the sure ruin just on 
ahead. No use! no use! the day of opportunity is 
ended, and the night of judgment comes with its 
gloom. And what makes it all seem so fatally 
hopeless is the understanding at last, in this swift 
sweep of the soul over the whole position, that the 
cause of the abrupt outbreak of retribution is not to 
be looked for alone in some single sin, which may 
have served as a final grain of dust to sway the bal- 
ance of justice, but in the whole gathered mass of 
iniquity, that has been growing, perhaps, for years. 
Here, again, we clinch the admonition with Solo- 
mon's own words: "All this have I seen, and ap- 
plied my heart unto every work that is done under 
the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth 
over another to his own hurt. And so I saw the 
wicked buried, who had come and gone from the 
place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the 
city where they had so done: this is also vanity. 
Because sentence against an evil work is not ex- 



SOLOMON'S FALL. 309 

ecuted speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of 
men is fully set in them to do evil. Though a sin- 
ner do evil a hundred times, and his days be pro- 
longed, yet surely I know that it shall be well with 
them that fear God, which fear before him: but it 
shall not be well wdth the wicked, neither shall he 
prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because 
he feareth not before God." 

VI. Finally, we learn it may be possible to mis- 
iniderstaiid and even pervert God^s forbearance ijtto ex- 
cuse for further sin : "Notwithstanding, in thy days 
I will not do it for David thy father's sake: but I 
will rend it out of the hand of thy son. Howbeit, I 
will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give 
one tribe to thy son, for David my servant's sake, 
and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen." 

Here, twice in succession, are men told that the 
almighty God was bearing all this provocation, and 
patiently withholding his hand from an infliction 
of judgment, not for Solomon's sake in the least, 
but for the sake of David, and for the sake of Jeru- 
salem, which he had chosen. But the king took 
advantage of a delay so kind for fresh sin. Such 
conduct was a daring perversion of divine long-suf- 
fering almost incredible. Solomon plunged for- 
ward into new wickedness, and stayed not to 
consider. On the shore of eternal history stands 
this beacon-liq-ht for human warninof. The wisest 
man in the world lived to behave like a fool! 

Strange it is that the strongest comment with 
which we retire from the study of this chapter was 
made bv Solomon himself: " He that deviseth to 



3IO FROM SAMUEL TO SOI.OMOX. 

do evil shall be called a mischievous person. The 
thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an 
abomination to men. If thou faint in the day of 
adversity, thy strength is small. If thou forbear to 
deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those 
that are ready to be slain; if thou sayest, Behold, 
we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the 
heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, 
doth not he know it? and shall not he render to 
every man according to his works ?" 

It does not seem worth while to discuss hastily 
the question which has been raised by some con- 
cerning Solomon's future retribution. We have no 
right to invade the reserve of the Almighty, If only 
we had the dates certainly, we could say perhaps 
that he repented at the last, was graciously for- 
given, and died leaving behind him the book of 
Ecclesiastes as his testimony for holiness and his 
protest against sin. The Greek Church divided 
irreconcilably from the Latin in the utterance of 
dogmatic opinion. We cannot reason from silence. 
Does it appear possible that one who had once 
shown himself so truly religious and prayerful, 
who had assuredly been inspired to write several 
books of the Bible, could have been left at the last 
to be a castaway ? One passage there is in Nehe- 
miah's history which says, even while recounting 
his crimes, that this king was "beloved of his 
God." There we can afford to leave his name, 
his fame, his soul. 



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